Zoya: Black and Silver Chevron Nails

Since I'm all about glitter right now, I wanted to share the nail art that I wore to my family's annual Thanksgiving get-together this year.

I used Storm (black with sparkle) and Cosmo (silver glitter) to do this. I wish I could remember what the white polish is...but I lost the bottle shortly after I did the look. I have no idea how that happened! It was just a generic, opaque white from the drugstore. I remember paying less than $3 for it. I didn't use any stencils, just freehanded the design using a technique I learned from @gabbysnailart on Instagram. ^_^

I think this would look really pretty in black and gold to ring in the new year or in red and gold for Christmas, don't you think?

Anyhoo, thanks for reading and have a good night!

Hugs,
Cat

Glittery Holiday Looks

Happy Black Friday, everyone! I was too busy with Thanksgiving to post yesterday, but have been cozily shopping on my laptop all day today, leaving me plenty of time to catch up on my blog absence. 

Anyhoo, glitters are trending for the holiday season (are they ever not?) and I've been busy creating some sparkly looks that are party-perfect!

Champagne Kisses by Violet Voss

Holy Grail by Violet Voss

Violet Voss  makes incredibly intense pigments, but their specialty is unique glitters with massive amounts of sparkle! They also sell a glitter glue primer, perfect for making your glitters stick and last all day, all night. They're in the midst of their Black Friday sale so don't miss out!

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Shimmery Cut Crease with Sephora Glitz & Glam Bag

Ok, so this is a somewhat weird, convoluted story, but I figured I'd tell it since it's related to the product in today's post. A couple months ago, I ordered Sephora's Glitz & Glam Party Essentials Sampler. 

You can't tell from the photo, but my package came severely damaged. First off, it took about 10 days for me to receive, which I thought was awfully slow in comparison to my usual packages. The box looked like someone had played soccer with it, and my bag was dirty and mangled, with a few of the products being broken. (the Stila Magnificent Metals shadow and the Benefit Watts Up)

Thankfully, Sephora has pretty good customer service so they gave me a full refund and told me to expect a visit from a UPS agent to investigate what may have happened. It's been over a month and no one showed up, so I figured it'd be ok to use the products by now.

Below is a shimmery, cut-crease I did using the Laura Mercier Rose Gold Caviar Stick, Stila Magnificent Metals in Dusty Rose, Benefit's Watts Up in the brow arch, and Lancome's Art Liner to line my upper lash line.

I think this turned out rather nice. Everyone else seemed to think so, also, as I got an unprecedented amount of good feedback on this look on my Instagram. :) Anyhoo, one more day away from the weekend! Happy Thursday, all and have a great evening!

Hugs,
Cat

Ten Three Labs

Hiya! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween yesterday! Speaking of the spook-tacular, I want to introduce you all to a super-cool, new indie cosmetic collection called Ten Three Labs. (10/03 also happens to be my bday, woo woo!)

Cara, the owner, makes and packages the products herself. I love that about small, independent operations. So much care is put into the creation and presentation. It's also very satisfying knowing that I'm getting a domestically-made product!

First of all, I was thoroughly charmed by the package design. It conjures up imagery of some magical, gothic/victorian apothecary. In addition to cosmetics, included in my package were whimsical little extras, such as candy, flower seeds, and a novelty, fortune-telling fish. (I always wanted one of those) It's the little things and attention to detail which makes me develop an affinity for certain brands.

The shadows are richly pigmented in a variety of deep, earthy colors to brights to pastels. The full-sized jars will probably last me a lifetime, while the generous sample bags will probably last for many, many applications. You're getting so much product for such a great price, this is seriously a steal!

I haven't tried the balms yet, but they look and smell wonderful. I'm sure I won't be disappointed, but I'll update you all on my experience with them once I get a chance to try them.

Here is a look I did with some of the shadows. Products listed below.

I did a soft, romantic look using a combination of pink and grey...one of my all-time, favorite color combos.

Products used:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• Etude House black gel eyeliner
• Eyeko Making Eyes gel pencils in Dove Grey and Powder Pink
• Ten Three Labs shadows in Shelley's Big Eye and Antoinette
• Eyemimo Cosmetics eyelashes in GLM13

I love the way the pale pink looks on my lower lash line. I have small eyes and doing this creates a brightening, eye-opening effect!

Head on over to Ten Three Labs to check out Cara's wonderful, handmade beauty products! I highly recommend this brand.

Happy Saturday, all!

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Lashes & Liner

Simple, black, ombre, cat eye liner to showcase Eazy Duz It mink lashes by Luxy Lash.

Eazy Duz It's crisscross design, volume, and length make them very dramatic lashes, yet they're incredibly lightweight, feels like I'm not wearing lashes at all! The liner design that I paired with these lashes is easy to do, yet looks very dramatic, requiring very few products. I'm considering making a tutorial/pictorial for it.

Products used:

• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil in Dark Gray and gel eyeliner in Black
• Sephora black pencil eyeliner
• Kate Super Sharp liquid eyeliner pen in BK-1
• Eazy Duz It mink lashes by Luxy Lash

Happy hump day everyone! :D

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Nude & Gold Glitter Mani

Heading out for the first Saturday night in a long time, so I did a nude mani with some gold, glittery tips. I love nude polish, it's so clean, classy, and versatile. However, I gave them a bit of a glam twist by adding a gold, glitter gradient. Ta-da! Easy peasy. Used the same technique as I did with the Halloween Disco Nails. Pretty much the only mani that I know how to do, but I like it!

Products used:

• Seche Clear base coat
• Zoya Shay polish (nude with subtle shimmer and a hint of pink)
• Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish in Go For Gold
• Wet N Wild Mega Rocks polish in Waiting For My Solo
• Seche Vite top coat

Happy Saturday, all!

Hugs,

Cat

Eye Wear Lashes Co

TGIF everyone! I'm sure we're all ready and excited for the weekend!

Anyhoo, I'm excited to share a new brand of luxury lashes with you all! They're called Eye Wear Lashes and they make some really beautiful products. You can tell that a lot of care was taken into consideration from the product to the packaging.

The ethically sourced mink lashes are luxuriously dense while remaining graceful and lightweight. The unique, cylindrical packaging has a python texture with shiny, gold print and is secured with a thick, satin ribbon. I love that each lash is attached with a thin, plastic tab to make removal from the packaging easy and convenient.

Here is a simple, ombre cat eye that I did featuring a style called "Flawless".

Products used for this look:

• Etude House eyebrow pencil in Dark Grey
• Etude House gel eyeliner in Black
• Urban Decay shadow in Blackout
• Makeup Geek pigment in Utopia
• Eye Wear Lashes Co mink lashes in Flawless

Hope everyone is having a fine Friday, so far! Until next time. :D

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Navy Blue and Teal Glitter Mani

I call this one the Midnight Sorceress! :D I know I've been sharing a lot of Halloween-inspired makeup, so I wanted to add some festive nail designs in the mix as well.

This is pretty much the same technique that I use for my other glitter gradients. See my Halloween Disco Nails tutorial.  However, the lighter part of the gradient begins at the cuticle of the nail as opposed to the tips.

Products used:

• Revlon Moon Candy polish in Galactic
• Orly nail polish in It's Up To Blue
• Wet N Wild Mega Rocks polish in Slap The Bass

More Halloween-inspired nail looks to come, so stay tuned!

Hugs,

Cat

Soft Rose Gold Smokey Eye Tutorial

Here's a rare, wearable look for special occasions, weddings, evenings, or even during the day. I love rose gold and I think it's especially appropriate during the autumn season.

Products/Instructions:

1. apply Bronze L'Oreal Lacquer Liner in an arc in the crease with an eyeliner brush
2. blend out with Bdellium Tools Pink Bambu pencil brush
3. apply Urban Decay Dark Horse over blended liner
4. apply Colourpop Cosmetics Amaze to lid
5. apply Eyeko Eye Do eyeliner to upper lash line
6. apply Urban Decay Creep to outer corner using pencil brush
7. line lower lash line with black eyeliner pencil and smoke out with Smog using pencil brush
8. apply Stila Magnificent Metals in Kitten to center of lid
9. curl lashes, apply mascara, and apply Luxy Lash Goal Digger eyelashes

That's all there is to it! Feel free to adjust products or techniques to best suit your style!

Hugs,

Cat

Pixie Hearts Halloween Jewelry

I've been meaning to share this sweet little jewelry collection with everyone! Pixie Hearts is a California-based jewelry shop that offers cute, original designs that are hand made personally by the artist. There are many adorable pieces available for every occasion! Since Halloween is coming up, I chose these lovely earrings which inspired me to do my jack o lantern makeup a little while back:

She also does some super-cute, custom pet tags, which I'm getting next for my pups! Make sure you check out her work! :)

Hugs,
Cat

Rose Gold Glitter Cut Crease

Really quick post today! Just wanted to share a glittery cut crease that I did today. I chose a rose gold theme and Eye Kandy Cosmetics had the perfect color for my look: Taffy. I used the "fine" texture as opposed to the "superfine" to get as much sparkle as possible. This is a fantastic look for autumn due to the warm, rosy hue. Also good for fall/winter weddings for brides that are more dramatically inclined.

I also played around with a fake, dramatic brow by filling in my brows with L'Oreal Lacquer Liner in Bronze and then sketching in brow hairs using Eyeko Visual Eyes liquid pen liner in Mocha.

Products used:

• L'Oreal Lacquer gel liner in Bronze and Eyeko Visual Eyes eyeliner in Mocha for brows
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• L'Oreal Lacquer gel liner in Bronze and Urban Decay Naked 3 in the crease as well as lower lid
• Eye Kandy Cosmetics Taffy glitter (fine "F" texture) on the lid as well as a matching shade of rose gold from Naked 3
• Eyeko Eye Do eyeliner
• Luxy Lash "Woke Up Like This" eyelashes

I don't have a video tutorial for a cut crease at the moment, but if you'd like to see one and can't wait, I would recommend JLINHH and Glam&Gore on YouTube.

Happy hump day and thanks for reading!

Hugs,

Cat

Halloween Disco Nails!

Cosmetics are my cup of tea, but I also dabble in nail art, occasionally. That is, I either can paint my nails one color OR I sometimes do this gradient glitter thing that looks pretty impressive for how easy it is to do. You just need a little time and patience, but it's not that difficult at all.

Since Halloween is coming up, I decided to go for a fun, glittery party look that is still in the spirit of the holiday, but not too over-the-top.

Products used:

• Seche Clear base coat
• Julep polishes in Jet (black) and Tatiana (sparkly pumpkin) from my recent Julep beauty box
• Wet N Wild Megarocks glitter polish in Waiting For My Solo
• Seche Vite Top Coat

Technique:

1. Starting with dry, clean nails, apply base coat.
2. Next, apply 1-2 coats of black nail polish.
3. Apply 1 coat of Seche Vite and let dry.
4. Using a cheap, makeup sponge wedge, sponge the orange polish onto half of nail. Make sure the application is heaviest at the tip and fades out towards the center.
5. Apply the glitter polish to the tips and dot glitter bits sparingly no further than center of nail in order to achieve the gradient look.
6. (optional step) Put a generous drop of glitter polish onto a piece of wax paper. Using a toothpick, carefully pick up bits of glitter and strategically place onto nails in order to suit your design.
7. Finish with another coat of Seche Vite.

Since you all now know how to do this, you can pretty much do it in any color! :D I hope these instructions were clear! I'm considering a video tutorial in the future. Just have to find the time! Thanks for reading and for putting up with al my Halloween-inspired posts! lol

Hugs,

Cat

Princess Jasmine Mint & Gold

So, this was just supposed to be a mint and gold glitter cut crease look, but a few of my Instagrammers mentioned that it looks like a Princess Jasmine inspired look. I completely agree, so, here it is!

Products used for this look:

• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow pencil in Dark Grey
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• Urban Decay Naked palette, Eldorado liquid liner, and Midnight Cowboy glitter liner in the crease
• Royal Care Cosmetics gel eyeliner in Mermaid Green
• Siren Cosmetics pigment in Heartbreaker
• Eyeko Eye Do eyeliner in Black
• ColourPop eyeshadow in Get Lucky on the lower lash line
• Born Pretty eyelashes in 13523

I guess I'll put this in the Halloween makeup inspiration as well! Hope everyone's start of the week is going well. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next post! <3

Hugs,

Cat

Teal Glitter Ombre Heart Eyeliner

Well, that's a mouthful, but it is what it is.

I've been spending a bunch of time on Instagram and Pinterest and get so inspired by all sorts of makeup looks. Awhile back, I saw a makeup artist mask out a little heart in her eyeliner which I think is charming and whimsical as heck! I've been masking shapes into my makeup from time to time, since.

The shape-making is easier than it looks. I purchased a bunch of nail decals from a shop called Beyond The Nail. I strategically place the decals on my eyelid, apply makeup, and then use tweezers to carefully peel off the decal once I'm finished. Voila! Cute little cutouts in your makeup!

Products used for this look:

• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow pencil in Dark Grey
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• Eyeko Eye Do eyeliner in Black, Visual Eyes eyeliner in Marine, and Making Eyes eyeliner in Blue Teal
• ColourPop eyeshadow in Get Lucky on the lower lash line
• Siren Cosmetics pigment in Europa
• Eyekandy Cosmetics glitter in Spearmint
• Eyemimo GLM13 eyelashes

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Saturday! As always, thanks for reading! <3

Hugs,

Cat

Eyeko

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to have received an amazing Eyeko haul in the mail the other day! If you're not familiar with them already, Eyeko is a luxury makeup brand based out of London. They're well-known for their award-winning, celebrity endorsed products...most notably their eyeliners and mascaras!

Included in my lovely little package are some liquid pen eyeliners, including their award-winning Eye Do eyeliner, as well as some newly launched products, such as their Making Eyes Automatic Gel eyeliners, Sport Waterproof mascara, and Alexa Chung Lash Wardrobe set. Isn't the packaging absolutely charming? There's a bit of a nautical feel to it, I think. :D

Anyways, it was a no-brainer for me to try out their Eye Do liquid pen eyeliner first. I decided to do a simple, neutral cut-crease in order to emphasize the eyeliner:

Products used for this look:

• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow pencil in Dark Grey
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• L'Oreal Lacquer gel eyeliner in Bronze and Urban Decay Naked Palette in the crease and lower lid
• ColourPop eyeshadow in Get Lucky and Stila Magnificent Metals in Kitten on the lid
• Eyeko Eye Do liquid eyeliner pen on top and bottom lash line
• Luxy Lash mink eyelashes in Woke Up Like This

I haven't had a chance to try the other products yet, but I must say that Eye Do is one of the blackest, most pigmented liquid eyeliner pens I've ever used. It has a precise, comfortable felt tip which the product flows out of smoothly without skipping or drying, which is something I seldom, if ever, experience with felt-tip eyeliner pens. I also love that I can use it on my waterline. Fantastic stuff! I can definitely recommend this product, for sure!

Looking forward to trying the other Eyeko items and giving you guys the scoop on them! Stay tuned for my next post!

Hugs,

Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

Halloween Makeup Ideas

Halloween is just around the corner so I've been experimenting with magically festive looks for this famously spooky holiday! (my favorite, by far!)

I've posted all the minute details to my Instagram account, but here is a sparkly, Jack-O-Lantern inspired look with a dramatic, triple-wing:

And here is a shimmering, blue look whose focal point is a little star shape masked out on the lower lid:

Hope this gives some of you ideas for fun looks for Halloween! As for blogging, I've got a ton of cool stuff backed up, so I'm trying to catch up on all of my social media platforms! I feel bad just concentrating on Instagram, so I'm earnestly trying to work on it!

Thanks to those of you who are still sticking around and I'll be back with the next post, ASAP! :D

Hugs,

Cat

Bargain Beauty: Born Pretty Store

Hi everyone! I wanted to share some awesome, frugal finds that I received from Born Pretty Store, a one-stop online shop for all your beauty needs! They offer a fantastic variety of beauty items at unbeatable prices. They were also kind enough to supply me with an offer code for 10% off your entire order, plus free shipping worldwide! (Code: CATH10)

Here are some of my picks:

Mink lashes are all the rage right now and are definitely not cheap. Be prepared to pay up to $50 a pair. Unless you're shopping at Born Pretty Store. Then they'll run you about $7. These were my favorite model that were available. They're lightweight and natural-looking. Syle number is #14245.

I know there are those with qualms about the ethics regarding mink eyelashes and I completely understand. These long, elegant lashes are a great alternative for the wispy, tapered mink look. They're synthetic, so no minks were involved in the making of these. What's better, they're only $8 for 5 pairs! Style #13523

It's hard to find a good, red lipstick that works well with my golden undertones, but this spicy, tomato-red had just the right amount of warmth to suit my complexion. The formula is smooth, pigmented, and lightweight with a long-lasting, matte finish without being drying. Lasted me a good 7 hours with some moderate fading. The packaging is super-cute and the overall lipstick is pretty good quality for just under $8 a tube. The brand is Hot Shop, color #7.

Born Pretty Store is a fun place to shop...they have so much stuff for such great prices! They're located overseas, so expect a 2 week shipping window. Totally worth it if you're not in a hurry and would like to save some money! And remember, use code CATH10 for 10% off plus free worldwide shipping!

Hope you guys enjoyed today's review! I've got tons of new products in to share, so stay tuned for upcoming posts!

Hugs,
Cat

*This post contains commercial samples provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.

I'm Alive

Haha, hello everyone. Oops, looks like I've been away for a bit. Long story short, I was busy with school, I graduated, and now I'm currently on the job hunt. This leaves little time for making videos and contributing to my blogs (I'm sure some of you are aware that I'm on www.AsianceMagazine.com, also)

I've been pretty active on Instagram because it's the easiest to maintain...snap a picture and write a short caption. No one has time for essays there. Lol. I do miss writing, however, and I'll try to be back a few times a week. While posting photos on Instagram is a lot of fun, I really miss writing out tips and tricks for makeup as well as comprehensive reviews for new products. Which reminds me to announce that, since building a moderate following on Instagram, I've had the good fortune to acquire some cosmetic sponsors these days who send me fantastic items to review, so I definitely look forward to catching you all up on some of my latest finds! :D

Anyways, here's a glimpse of some of the stuff you guys have been missing, in case you're not following me on Instagram:

As you can see, I've become rather adept at making faces. I look forward to blogging once again. Thanks for continuing to follow and stay posted for future articles on new products and new makeup techniques!

Hugs,
Cat

Instagram Lip Art

Boo! Sorry you guys, I've abandoned blogging for Instagram lately. It's just so much easier and nobody really reads anymore, right? People sometimes have issues reading captions on my Instagram images, much less blocks of text on a blog. I think the part of the world's population with access to internet and social media is developing mass ADD...myself included. Anyways, here are a few things I've been up to:

I did these using mostly products from Feyoshe Cosmetics and lip paints from My Beauty Addiction. Head on over to my Instagram feed for additional details. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far! <3

Hugs,
Cat

Fun With Glitter

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been absent. If you're on Instagram, however, you'll notice that I've been busy. Just wanted to share some looks I've done in the past week, get ready for some glittery spam!

I've been experimenting with colored eyebrows to complement eye makeup.

I've also been playing around with adding jewels (nail art rhinestones) as well as "curly" cat-eye shapes.

Here, I'm playing around with color blocking. I'd eventually like to do glitter gradients once I have enough shades to create a smooth color transition.

My interpretation of the Eye of Ra. I'm especially proud of this one because the line art was quite challenging!

I've been using glitters from Eye Kandy Cosmetics as well as MBA Cosmetics. Both shops offer a vast variety of glitter and mineral pigments. Eye Kandy makes this incredible glitter-binding medium which allows you to paint even, opaque sheets of cosmetic glitter onto your skin, creating dazzling makeup effects! It's called Liquid Sugar and I don't know what I'd do without it!

The gold liquid liner that you see is Eldorado, by Urban Decay. For pigmented, colorful brows, I used Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette, set with matching eye shadow colors. For fine black lining detail, I used Kanebo Kate Super Sharp eyeliner pen.

The beautiful lashes that you see are "Noir Fairy" and "Tigress" by House Of Lashes.

Looking forward to bringing you guys more intricate, artistic makeup looks...especially once I graduate! Woo hoo! I'll also be working on some glitter tutorial videos, so stay posted! :)

Hugs,
Cat