Sparkled Beauty

I resisted Kat Von D Innerstellar eyeshadow palette when it first came out but failed when Sephora brought out the Innerstellar eye & lip set.

A set with all full sized items, and they all are the ones I wanted to try. Guess we can't miss it again, especially during the VIB sale, can we? :)

This set comes with the Innerstellar palette, a Lightning liner and 2 lip products, neatly packed in a sturdy black ziploc-style bag. Add in a blush and you are set for colour face makeup for a short trip or a weekend away.

A closer look at the Innerstellar palette, with matte and shimmery cool toned shades (3x0.08oz + 9x0.04oz, totalling 0.6oz of eyeshadows, reg. $55).

Despite rave reviews on YT and blogs, this palette gives me a mixed feeling. Some shades I fall in love at first swatch, and some fall a little short.

The first 3 shades in the first quad are a little lighter in pigmentation - Gravitron (described as a soft iridescent pink), Night Crawler (matte dusty beige), Dios (silvery gray iridescence).

Lunacy (rich pearlized purple) is, one of the best performed purples I have tried, despite the slightly firmer texture. It does not need much building up at all.

The second quad is a great one, with Vast (pearlized taupe, an easy all-over-lid shade), Astrological (pale lilac sheen, a little sheer when blended), Darkstar (purplish pewter, very very pigmented) and Orion (matte chocolate brown, great for the crease).

The last quad has Lycan (matte cream, the brow bone shade), 2 metallic shades - 3am (metallic champagne) and Moonshine (metallic silver), and Killing Moon (matte black, great pigmentation but slightly firmer to the touch, harder to blend).

I love all the dark and metallic shades in this palette, plus the 2 purples. They blend easily and stay on through the day with a primer. The more neutral shades could be more pigmented and slightly less powdery, but overall, the Innerstellar palette is nice to have.

The accompanying product, also for the eyes, is the Lightning liner in Poe (metallic purple with violet shimmer, 0.04oz, reg. $25).

Among different lines of eyeliners at Kat Von D, the Lightnings are supposed to be metallic liquid eyeliners with a brush tip.

The design includes a stopper that sits between the tube and the cap, to be removed the first time you use the liner to allow the cap to close tightly onto the tube. Then turn the dial to dispense the product onto the tip - one click for a thin line and more clicks if you want a bold line.

This is both a pro and con to the product. Yes you get fresh ink every time you go apply your eyeliner, but the amount is harder to control with clicks. One side of the brush might get more product than the other. The metallic sheen is undeniably beautiful though.

The Everlasting liquid lipstick (0.22 oz, reg. $24) would probably need no introduction at all, but it is worth noting that the tube is narrow and long, hence the wand is also very long, slightly awkward to maneuver.

Armageddon (described as a carnation pink) does not seem to be a colour from the existing core line, might be exclusive to this set, I can't say for sure.

The Studded Kiss lipstick line (0.1oz, reg. $26) is quite new to me. Packaging is very cool, feels sturdy too.

The colour they choose for the set is Wonderchilde (an iridescent neon lilac) is interesting. It looks bold and dark in the tube but applies slightly sheer (but buildable), and get this, duochrome-y. It looks pink in one angle and purple in another. I love it!

On my medium skin tone, Wonderchilde actually looks more flattering than Armageddon, which is a little too blue toned. On a flip side though, the lipstick cannot beat the liquid lipstick in terms of wear time. Neither of them is a work safe colour either :)

Think you saw these swatches before? Yes, they were the testing product for The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous cleansing butter I showed you last week. That could illustrate lasting power - the liner held on the longest while the lipstick came off easily.

This Innerstellar eye & set is LE, online only, VIB and VIB Rouge exclusive [lots of restrictions there], $85 ($128 value). Great for those of us who are collectors :)

I did wear Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting primer #2 Mauve in this look, but since it is an invisible primer, I am bringing back some oldies from the holiday to show you instead.

I forgot how fab Kat Von D Spellbinding eyeshadow book was until I pulled it out again. Been using it all week. Here are:
- Countess as brow bone highlight. It bronzes the area instead of highlighting it, something different
- 8 Bit as transition colour, and
- a gradient of Hexagram, Birdcage and Gunner on the lids.

On the lower lash line is Avon SuperShock gel eye liner pencil in Aqua Pop. Now that summer is here, bright liners are in full force for me :)

Another blast from the past is Make Up For Ever Ultimate Long Lasting Lip kit. I used Aqua Eye 18C and Aqua Rouge 18 Coral for the lips this time.

On me, it's more of a coral pink. My lips alter every colour that is put on them, sigh... I do like this colour but wish it were more coral, maybe more neon too!

Other products used:
- Maybelline Fit Me Shine Free foundation in 230 Natural Buff
- Joe Fresh lip tint in Crush Orange as blush
I like using these lip tints on the cheeks more than on the lips, for their natural look after blended
- Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Collector Ultra Volume mascara in Black
- Avon Ultra Luxury brow liner in Dark Brown.

The primer held up the makeup all day with this look, I was quite pleased. Warmer weather would call for primers more often and I am happy to have this bottle this year, together with other BB/ CC/ DD creams in the stash :)

I have so many reviews to post but am falling behind in drafting the posts. So much to do in the house and backyard, and when it's nice out, I want to get outside. Also feel discouraged trying to keep up with Canadian releases as we always fall so behind the US or UK with drugstore brands. I am losing it!

Do you guys who blog feel the same way? Sure, if it is my full time job, I would suck it up and work. But this is purely recreational (lol) so I am lagging. You'll understand, right? :)

Have a great sunny day!

It is the coldest day we have so far this season around here, with temperature of -10 (14F) this morning when I left the house. It took a bit of time for me to "thaw" when I got to the office, not kidding!

The good thing in life right now is I can talk makeup, as simple as it sounds :) This is a look I tried using a few eyeshadows from Kat Von D Spellbinding eyeshadow book.
- Stupid Autocorrect as transition colour
- Queen on 2/3 of the lid (a duochrome is always a good way to add depth to the look)
- Arcadia in the inner 1/3 of the lid
- Instaglam under the brow bone instead of a matte highlighter as usual. It is not very visible on anyway.

On the lips is Make Up For Ever Aqua Eye 14C and Aqua Rouge 14 Light Rosewood from the Ultimate Long Lasting Lip kit. This is a dark rose colour, half a step up from a MLBB colour on me.

Other products used:
- Marcelle New Age Anti-wrinkle foundation in True Beige
- Cover Fx Conceal Fx Camouflage concealer in Light
- Sephora + Pantone Universe Foiled waterproof eyeliner in Purple
Been wearing a lot of purple liners lately, between this Purple and Annabelle Twilighting. I should branch out a little huh?
- Marcelle Xtension Plus mascara
- Avon Ultra Luxury brow liner in Dark Brown.

Decided to skip the blush for the day as I kinda feel like I should let the foundation take the limelight :) Still enjoy it like the first time I tried it.

Better view of the eye makeup here.

Has there been enough of me smiling in this post? I think so, lol. The stars must be aligned or some miraculous thing happened in the universe that day as I actually snapped some acceptable pics. I normally look better not smiling :)

And yes, the turtle neck sweaters have to come out already, because there was the white stuff on the ground, very sad!

Anyway, hope everyone has recovered from the Sephora sales and (in the US) is ready for Black Friday sales. Your turn to celebrate Thanksgiving now. Someone mentioned on twitter this morning that there are about 1,000 hours until Christmas. Then there will be Boxing Day sales. Are you ready? :)

This is a quite talked-about palette I am excited to show you - Kat Von D Spellbinding eyeshadow book. Bear with me while I post about holiday items even when the Sephora sales are over :)

The box and the palette front feature Kat Von D's art work. The palette is thin, easy to tote around but does not come with a mirror. The protective clear plastic sheet over the eyeshadows, with individual shade names printed on it, is not really necessary, IMO. Printing the names right on the palette, and we are friends.

The palette comes with 24 eyeshadows in both neutral and bold shades in matte, metallic and shimmery/ glittery finishes.

The formula is infused with rose extract, supposed to keep the skin around the eyes hydrated, be long lasting and crease free.

First row, from L-R: Dark Throne, Precious, Babe and Piaf
Second row: Sunset Blvd, 8 Bit, Geek and Fallen
Third row: Holy Bible, Oddfellow, Birdcage and Gunner
Fourth row: Instaglam, Stupid Autocorrect, Galore and Hexagram
Fifth row: Smile Now, Cry Later, Arcadia and Wonderland
Last row: Queen, Bukowski, Countess and WTF.

First group of 6, top left corner, 2 each row: Dark Throne, Precious, Sunset Blvd, 8 Bit, Holy Bible and Oddfellow.

This is the least exciting group, just because the light shades need some building up and the dark shades are quite close to each other. Oddfellow's beautiful aqua glitters show up the best on top of a dark base as its own base is not fully opaque, but I do like it. Dark Throne is one black/ gunmetal shade that every palette needs.

Second group, bottom left corner: Instaglam, Stupid Autocorrect, Smile Now, Cry Later, Queen and Bukowski.

Another MAC Club look-alike - Queen is still beautiful as the name suggests. Bukowski is sheer at first swipe but beautiful at 2 layers. My favorite in this group, however, is Cry Later, quite pigmented and goes with almost every look I do. Instaglam and Stupid Autocorrect follow suit.

Third group, top right corner: Babe, Piaf, Geek, Fallen, Birdcage and Gunner.

Another difficult purple - Babe takes 3 swipes to show up like you see here, and Birdcage is in a similar situation. Fallen is metallic and pigmented, a dream to use.

Last group, bottom right corner: Galore, Hexagram, Arcadia, Wonderland, Countess and WTF.

More metallic goodness here with Galore and Hexagram, they are great to play with. Needless to say though, my eyes are drawn to Wonderland and WTF (lol at the name) and they do not disappoint. WTF leaves a bit of staining on my hand but a makeup remover would take care of it. Countess is the preferable matte brow bone highlight shade and Arcadia is great in the inner lids. My favorite group of colours!

For the money - $66 (values $130, Limited Edition), the palette is a great combination of shades that works for almost everyone from neutral girls to strong colour lovers. No bad shade but one or two need some building up to look good.

Check out the FOTD with Queen as the star of the show, and another FOTD using a bunch of shades :)