Rock & Republic Pressed Blush in SPANK - Swatch Review

(as always pics are clickable to view the larger size)

My good day continued!

Not only did I overhaul the closet (which actually caused a migraine... never try to do this when you have 2 small children) which now has much more room and looks fabulous.... BUT FedEx dropped off my first Rock & Republic makeup item!

Recently RockandRepublic.com had 50% off and 99 cent shipping on their site. I've been lemming a blush for some time now but the $40 price tag is a big put off. HauteLook had a sale with them recently but their shipping was $6.95 and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. When the R&R website had their sale I DOVE right on it.

I've been searching high and low for my perfect pink blush. I'm a mostly coral/nude blush wearer, so it's definately not easy to find that perfect pink. SPANK is seriously the perfect pink. Smooth, buildable, blendable, and chic. I can see WHY they charge what they do for their cosmetics... when you touch this blush it just makes you feel rich inside.



The packaging is to die for. Heavy and durable. You get quite a bit of product for your money.




Everyone needs to own at least one item from Rock & Republic... whether it be a blush, shadow, gloss... I am going to make my wishlist now, maybe Santa will come early ;)

Sephora 500 pt Beauty Perk - Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set Swatches & Haul

(as always pics are clickable to view the larger size)

Happy Tuesday!

It's barely 11am and it's already been SUCH a fun day!
My first guest blog EVER was posted at ebates.com (THE place for cash back savings!). You can view my guest blog by clicking here. If you're not already a member at Ebates, please DO sign up! You get cash back (either by check or paypal) 4 times a year and I always get around $60 each time!

Then my Sephora order shows up, just in time for vacation!!!


Too Faced Bronzed & Beautiful Set, Dior Extase mascara (code: EXTASE at checkout), and Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set (500 pt perk).

The one item (not pictured) was an item for a friend, but MY main item was the Too Faced The Bronzed & The Beautiful.




I became interested in Too Faced bronzing powder when I received a sample of Too Faced Sun Bunny from my last Sephora order. I'm MAC NW25 and this is the BEST bronzer I've found for my coloring. I've been on the hunt forever, and never even thought to go outside of my brand comfort zone. This bronzer just totally lights up the skin!

I went on to Sephora's website to purchase the Sun Bunny Bronzer when I saw that it also came in a set! The Bronzed & Beautiful set includes Sun Bunny, Snow Bunny, Pink Leopard, AND the Flatbuki brush! All for only $35! I haven't tried the Snow Bunny or the Pink Leopard yet, but once I do I'll be sure to review them. We already know from my past review of Sun Bunny that it's amazing.

Also included in this most recent shipment was Sephora.com's latest 500 point beauty perk - the Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set. This product is EXCLUSIVE to Beauty Insiders only and features the shades Zero, Flipside, 1999, Mildew (which is an exclusive shade), as well as Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Distortion (Opalescent Pearl).



Here are the UD swatches, taken with the help of my little guy's arm ;)

Zero, 1999. Flipside, Mildew, Distortion

UD 24/7 liners are extremely smooth and easy to apply. They are waterproof, and I've never had an issue with them migrating onto my face.

Sephora has seriously been stepping it up with the 500 point perks, lately I haven't been able to pass them by! This is bad news for my wallet!

China Glaze Vintage Vixen Haul +1

WOW 3 blog posts in one day. Must be that kind of Monday!! The kids are behaving... what can I say?

The mail has arrived and my head2toebeauty.com order was at my feet. I don't want to do nail swatches just yet, because I'm leaving for vacation on Thursday and want my mani and pedi to be fresh and ready to go, so swatches more than likely won't be coming at you until Wednesday.

I ordered (all from China Glaze) Emerald Fitzgerald (love that nameeee), Foxy, Hey Doll, Ingrid, and Afterglow. Pics are posted below with some swatches on paper. PS ~ Packing peanuts... what a painnnnnnnn <3





Did you get anything yet from China Glaze Vintage Vixen? What are you lemming? DO TELL!

Stereo Rose 2005 vs Stereo Rose 2010

FINALLY my backorder of MAC Stereo Rose arrived on Friday. I almost tripped over it walking out the door because I was not expecting it to arrive that day, or really ever.

The day it launched I placed my order through at 8:59am when By Candlelight was already sold out and Stereo Rose was listed as still available. The dreaded backorder notice arrive in my inbox a day or so later. After a week I'd given up. So what a pleasant surprise!

I'd like to compare the Stereo Rose of the past to the Stereo Rose of now. There seems to be some difference of opinions concerning if they are the same. Some peoples are... some peoples aren't. I don't know that I think the formula has been messed with, but the veining in your particular SR would probably have something to do with it.

Here is a shot of my two Stereo Rose side by side:
2005 on the left, 2010 on the right


This is a finger swatch of Stereo Rose 2005


This is a finger swatch of Stereo Rose 2010


And this is a finger swatch of them side by side


I did take these pictures with the flash, and they do seem a shade off of each other. But really they're exactly the same. I can safely say to you, that SR05 and SR10 are 99.9% similar. At least mine are. When I test swatched in Nordies I could have sworn theres was WAY lighter and peachier than mine, which always seemed coral to me.

It'll be nice to be able to use my 2005 SR without a fear of running out. What would be even nicer is if MAC just released the MSF's permenantly or at least once a year. People would be pretty excited to get a Stereo Rose and a Pleasureflush for retail. Plus, it would kill the evil-bay hounds who are asking $100+ for these MSF's, which MAC frowns upon anyway. Just a thought.

Does anyone else have both Stereo Rose releases? Are yours the same? How do they differ?

Wedding Weekend

Hey everyone!!! Hope you all had a fab weekend! I sure did =)

We went to a family wedding, where my mom was the Maid of Honor!!!

She looks GORGEOUS... obviously ;)

Here is a pic of the beautiful bride and groom:


I've seriously NEVER seen a more happy bride! She was literally glowing, and not just from the 100 degree heat. Debbie beamed from ear to ear throughout the entire ceremony. It's so refreshing to see people in love, getting married, and they are 100% SURE that this is what they want. Magic!

The wedding took place at the Atrium... which was SO beautiful. The setting was so romantic and the food was wonderful!


This is one of my favorite pics of the evening. It's the most angellic beautiful pic of the flower girl, Debbie's daughter Kassy.
I put it on photobucket and played around with it. Blurred the edges and cropped it a bit...


What would the evening be without a pic of the GORGEOUS wedding cake:


I also decided to post a pic of Jeff and I at the wedding, we rarely can get shots of us together than we like lol:


To cap off the night we have a pic of Uncle Greg making a fast getaway!
For this I used the cartoon feature on photobucket... cause it's fun.


Share your weekend stories!!!

NOTD ~ China Glaze Ginger

Today I did a mini China Glaze haul off of Head2ToeBeauty.com. I purchased (From ChG Vintage Vixen) Hey Doll, Ingrid, Foxy, Emerald Fitzgerald, and also Afterglow, which I've been lemming for the past few weeks.

In honor of China Glaze's new beautiful shades, and my mini haul, I decided to do a NOTD post of China Glaze Ginger. This was from the 2009 Specialty Collection. There are MANY more than I need from that collection, but funds are low so we gotta start small ;)



Ginger is a coppery color with silver glitter and a bigger multi-colored hologram sparkle. It's absolutely gorgeous and can't believe that it's sat in my untrieds for as long as it has!!

I have 3 coats on my nails of ChG Ginger as well as Orly Top2Bottom as a base and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. The first pic is without flash, the second pic is with flash.

Review Post ~ Make Up For Ever Fascinating Lip Gloss & Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Strawberry Cream and Shy Blush

First up for review is the Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Fascinating Lipgloss in Pearly Indian Ink 4.



This is described on Sephora.com as red with gold glitter. It's obviously pink and looks nothing like the swatch on the website. In person, it looks more like the color above Pearly Pink 3. Sephora rarely seems to get the color right swatch wise, but luckily that has no bearing on the product itself!

MUFE Fascinating glosses are GORGEOUS. You really need to check them out in person. They are much prettier than MAC Dazzleglass and are absolutely not at all sticky or gritty. The pigment is great, not too sheer, but not too bold. I have every single one of these on my wishlist. These retail for $18 each on Sephora.com.

Next we have Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Strawberry Cream and Shy Blush.




In the pic the top color is Strawberry Cream and the bottom color is Shy Blush. Strawberry Cream is a beautiful pink color with a hint of gold. Shy Blush is such a gorgeous peachy shade, also with gold.

Out of the two, Shy Blush is my fav. I always lean more towards the peachy or coral shades... but this one is also a bit more pigmented. Normally I have issues with getting any sort of mineralized product to stay nicely on my skin, but these have good staying power.

These shades retail for $10 each on marykay.com.