Most used e/s of 2010: NYX's 10 Color e/s in Romance

I did a lot of experimenting in 2010 and I tried many products either through hype or otherwise, but in the e/s department, I have never been more sure about anything other than NYX eyeshadows. I just find this brand to be versatile, and modern while affordable and chic. Their eyeshadows are extremely good quality and always has a nice silky finish. This is my go-to palette for work occasions and other low-key events which are quite sporadic in my life! I get a lot of consistencies, and this eyeshadow never fails to deliver. I had this palette for a year now! Bought it online through CherryCulture.

I love the entire palette but the one most used is the bottom row! I love it entirely. You can create any look from subtle to bold. Both highlight colors are really nice, with one being shimmery (top row) and the other matte (bottom row).

Here is the swatch for the 2nd row. I originally had the first row as well, but it was too distorted =/ But it's very similar on the first row as well, just a lot more muted than these colors here.

There you have it :) My go-to e/s of 2010!

I also wanted to mention that their NYX's Circle Lipsticks are fantastic as well. My everyday favorite is the shade Indian Pink.

What do you think? Would you buy this shade? :) I have gone through two tubes of it so far. I hope it never gets discontinued!

I will be making a lot improvements for the year new on my blog to include more product reviews, swatches, tutorials and pictures. On board with me is my new Nikon camera that will produce higher quality images, and better swatches. Thank you for all the dear comments about my blog's new layout... it will change again in the coming weeks for better navigation.

I thank you all for your continued readership and support for Rainy Days. This blog started out through the inspiration and awe I felt toward other bloggers and now this blog has turned into a continuous project for me :) I have reached new heights this year and all your endearing comments and critiques have only made it better.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay safe, stay sane. Enjoy!

Deal Alert: Target's Merona 100% Wool Sweater on clearance for $9.98

Hi ladies!

I just spotted a bunch of Merona wool sweaters at Target. I believe you can purchase it online here on their website for regular price but if you are in the store, stop by the sale racks and you might spot them for a mere $9.98! Marked down several times from $40.

Source: Target.com

I got mine in a plum/dark purple color. They didn't have much of a variety in colors, but they had brown, sea green and red. It's really soft and I was so happy they had this color! I like that it's not completely turtleneck... I'm not a fan of that variety =p

I hope you all had a nice Christmas :) And getting ready for 2011! Where did all the time go!? Well, I'll be back before then. Talk to you guys soon! :)

Tutorial: How to Salvage Your Broken Blushes

Hi everyone! :) I'm back! My computer was being lame and was taking forever to do things, with apps freezing left, right and center. I got really tired of it and invested in a new laptop. I'm blogging from the comfort of my couch now :)

I was organizing some of my blushes and found one of them broken to pieces. Yep, don't you just hate it?

It was Wet N' Wild's Heather Silk blush. That company is notorious for making terribly packaged cosmetics, but the quality of this blush is too good to just throw away especially if you just used it once or twice. So... here's the next best thing: save it from its looming death!

Onto the tutorial :)

Step 1-2: Transfer the crumbled pieces into a little dish and ground the blush to mineral consistency

Below is the swatch! It is a bit too intense for me, especially for a mineral blush. Since it was so concentrated in the pan, it looks almost purple here. So I decided to mix it with a beige powder (used for setting makeup) to tone down the intensity of grounded blush.

Step 3: *optional*  Mix in the setting powder to the blush and stir well. 

 Step 4: I used the entire jar (.57 grams) of Bare Essentuals Pure Radiance to mix in with the blush to create a nice lustery sheen so it warms your face as you glow :) Stir well!

Make sure you mix it evenly!

Step 5: Test your results. I think mine came out just what I imagined. It's got that shimmery effect in it and it's subtle enough not to look overtly overdone. 

Done! :) Time to try it out :)

 

I felt like I improved the formula for myself. I still have a bunch of other Wet N' Wild blushes but Heather Silk is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy my little tutorial :) It was my first ever! Yay!

Anything you saved and/or made better? :) Do share! :)

A Day's Outfit and Revlon's Midnight Blue Polish

Good morning everyone! This past week has been extremely busy for me as I've been planning for holidays and things on top of getting my deadlines in for work! =P I haven't had much time for myself to blog, but I've been catching up on your blogs all week :) 

Here is an outfit I wore sometime last week. I bought the olive colored cardigan because I loved how it looked on Jean from ExtraPetite! Mine is from August Silk that I picked up at Nordstrom Rack not too long ago :) I'm so in lovvvee with olive colors at the moment!!!! And gold shimmers for blushes and lipsticks!

Below: Brown cardigan, same look.

Revlon's Midnight Blue: It's a beautiful deep blue shade. I really like the intensity of the color, but it takes about two or three coats to achieve that opacity.

I'll be back to my makeup forte in my next post :) ie, Loreal Naturale blushes! I've been wearing them all week and I'm loving it! Pictures to come.

I'm going to get a hair consultation today for Yuko hair straightening. If you've never heard about it, it's a Japanese hair straightening technique that really protects hair and leaves it straight for 8-12 months. I've done it once and I loved the results. It made my hair really healthy. Ironic right? How can permanent hair straightening be healthy? For one, it's better than using a hot iron on a weekly basis, and they restore the keratin in your hair to keep it extremely shiny and bouncy. The downside of this is the time it takes! It took me close to 8 hrs last time, and the price! Costing about $500 :( But if you remember my ramble here, you will know why I need this! From that pic, my hair is actually longer now! =p YIKES!!!!!

Anyway, if all goes well, I hope to get it done either today, tomorrow, or next weekend. Talk to you all soon!!!!

Spotlight Watch: Yes to Carrots Body Scrub... or is it a face scrub?

It was one year ago this month when I heard of the Yes To brand that combines Yes to Carrots, Yes to Cucumbers, Yes to Tomatoes.. etc. During the holidays, I bought a gift set that contained a body scrub, a lotion and a loofah. Somehow, not sure why, but I thought the body scrub was a facial scrub... and used it on my face for weeks O_O Yikes, right?! Nope! It was the best thing I had ever done for my dull skin. It really brightened my skin, and made the rough spots really soft and it remains so today. I haven't even finished the first tube yet!

The ingredients are as good as it can be. Lots of oils, and good moisture binding ingredients for your skin. I use this once or twice a week on face as a in-shower mask and wash it off just when I am about to step out. After a whole year of using it, I really came to appreciate how the oils aided in softening my skin on my face and neck. It smells of light baby powder.

The first picture with the product just out of the tube and the second one drenched in water :) There are little granules that help exfoliate the skin and the oils that make up the scrub moisturize your skin. Once I wash it off, my face is incredibly soft and has none of that drying stuff that occurs in other products I've tried. I bask in the afterglow for awhile! :)

I'd totally repurchase this when I run out. I am currently at the halfway point from one year ago. It is an effective, economical and multitasking product. I bought my set for $10 a year ago and I started seeing them on the shelves of Target and other drugstores now. I conclude that this is the best skin mistake I've ever made!

Have you tried the Yes to brands? What do you think or recommend?! :)




Disclaimer: Personal review! :) Was not contacted nor am I affiliated with this company.

Seven things, and other things

I've been having so much fun reading people's tags and learning about my favorite bloggers in their everyday, normalish lives :) Since I was tagged by the lovely Angie, I decided to compile seven (hopefully interesting) things about myself as well.

1. Severe Thirst - I am a tea addict. I've been known to make 7+ cups a day, in all different flavors and varieties. I've had this habit since I was a Freshman in college 6 years ago. I collect artisan teas and admire all the complicated flavors out there.  My current favorite at the moment is Mighty Leaf's Green Tea Tropical. I enjoy the fruity elements of the tea and the classy silk pouches. Yummy! :)

2. Awkwardness -  I was a total geek in high school. Not necessarily smart, but I had the physique of an awkward teenage girl. I had thick glasses, braces and a huge head of curly, unflattering hair and bad pimply skin. Yikes! Some of my classmates don't even recognize me! LOL

3. Books and such - I'm kind of a book worm. My love for fiction has gone from imagining character plots to reading and writing fan fiction. I have a not so secret love for Twilight fan fiction. I know! It's a teen series but I enjoy it with reckless abandon. I also enjoy lots of other reads and have a deep appreciation for classical literature and enjoy the works of William Blake, Wordsworth, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, John Keats, and so many more.

4. Telling a Story - I collect many vintage dresses by scouring through thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales. I don't really do it online because I just like the feeling of finding it myself somewhere. So far, I have a good bunch that I've restored to like-new condition. It's a nice staple to have in my closet because I love how clothing can not only make a statement, but tell a story.

5. Denim - I just started getting into jeans. I've never cared much for jeans before because I can never find the perfect fit, but it's now intrigued me how you can dress up or down with these causal bottoms. I have a few pairs of skinny jeans that I wear occasionally, but I've gotten into boot cuts and straight leg looks as well. What do you gals recommend?! :) Do tell!

6. Music anyone? My all time favorite band is Iron and Wine. Their music is oddly soothing to me and has helped me write creatively for years and years. Their music really sinks into me and guides my mind to register feelings of love and loss through a song or melody at any given moment. I love the tempo, textures and song writing abilities of Sam Beams (lead singer). His music is strikingly different and draws from ambiguity and mixed feelings. I love! Of course I enjoy the occasional "hit" song :) I'm digging Taylor Swift's music!

7. Hobbies and such - I've been sort of dabbling into making my own lip balms and oils. I'm still in the learning stages but I hope to make something special using nourishing ingredients and oils from all over the world and ultimately creating something that I can be proud of. My readers will be the first to know of my experiences! =D haha

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I recently acquired a new bag! :)

I've always wanted a buttery leather bag! I'm super duper excited I finally have one!! I bought it at Marshalls not too long ago and have been using it non stop since. It's divided into two sections inside and has nice compartments. I didn't take a picture of it inside because I was so excited about the outside. And the color! I love :) It's really soft, but very sturdy!

And some Loreal blushes that I picked up over the weekend. They are CRAZY pigmented! Since I've had a wonderful experience with the Loreal True Match blush, I was really excited these were on sale for $3.00 each at CVS.

L-R and top to bottom, Rustica, Mocha Rose and Mauvelous Mauve.

Aren't they pretty?! This is one swipe. ONE! It's extremely pigmented and really soft. The blush is milled really finely and silky to the touch. I am amazed by it! :) I'm so happy they were on sale! There weren't many left. 

I was afraid these blushes will look too dark on me but they are surprisingly really pretty. I'll have more pics of me wearing it soon. I already took off my makeup =p

Alright everyone... goodnight!

Quckie Post

Hi everyone! Did you all have a fun, food-fulfilling weekend? :) I certainly did, and am ready to get back to my normal routine. In an attempt to cook a large bird, it was not very successful, but it wasn't a total failure. At least this year it was cooked. Fully cooked.

Black Friday is a frenzy like always, and I smartly avoided the craziness like the plague. Over the weekend, I did attempt to get some things. I got some dark brown Guess pumps. They're work friendly I suppose, because they are simple, sleek and really elongating for my short legs :)

Sorry for the bad camera phone pictures, but I couldn't wait! :) I'll have better ones later. I also got have a whole bunch of L'oreal blushes to swatch for you ladies! =D And a new hand bag. More soon. Night! :)

Bare Escentuals Lipglosses, Estee Lauder and Laura Geller

I have been obsessed with lip glosses lately. I'm flashing back to my very first Bonne Bell and Smackers lip glosses... haha. My favorite one used to be Smackers Celestial Strawberry :) I was 15 at the time.

Now, I am obsessing over "adult" lip glosses, which is funny because I've seen 10 year olds with iPhones and Blackberrys =p So the word 'adult' is kind of blurred between shades of gray.

Anyway, Bare Escentuals lipglosses are great :) On my lips, they feel highly moisturizing and soft. The color range is spectacular.

Here is the shade "Cupcake" It's described as a rosy pink.

This is the shade "Cranberry Sorbet". It's a limited edition color so you can't find it at their website anymore.

I really like it.. it's a nice berry color :)

Their lip glosses are great. I was really skeptical because I was not a big fan of their Buxom line. It burned my lips!! Yikes. But their regular glosses are really nice. The feel of them on your lip is nice. It has a light sweet smell... like vanilla bean or coco. It's a little on the stickier side but it lasts much longer than non-sticky glosses. It pairs well under lip balm or by itself :) 

 

Cranberry Sorbet (LE), Cupcake :)

I also like the lip brush too. It's so precise! I used to hate them because I was so used to the other ones, but I'm really liking this. It's thin enough so you can build your lips without messing up and wasting precious gloss...haha :) I bought them both from Ebay!

Another one that I've been LOVING is the Estee Lauder Pure Color in Candy :)

(photo from Esteelauder.com)

I like how the lipstick has light reflectors to create that candy colored lip. It's a gorgeous shade. I think it was a GWP not too long ago? I really love the color. The lipstick doesn't feel thick or lipsticky at all. It has a really nice smell, and is light in terms of texture. Because of that, it's not the most moisturizing lipstick. Balm it!

Oooh and a new gloss that I acquired recently is the Laura Geller City Lights lip gloss! It's a clear sparkly topper gloss that works as a highlight for your lips... to give it that sparkle factor :) I topped off City Lights with the Estee Lauder lipstick to see how it'll look.

Now it looks sparkly like a lip gloss which means I can do this with any matte lipstick I have =p It's a revelation for me.

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures. The swatches were all done with a camera phone. I guess you can buy any clear sparkly gloss to top off your lipstick but this one has major staying power. It also has a nice lip brush for super precision. This sparkly gloss is like the best thing's that happened to me in the lip dept! :)

Alrighty ladies, I hope you are having a fantastic weekend. I'll to you all soon. And as always, thank you for all your sweet comments in my last entry. I had a great birthday! :)