Bold Lips: A Few Of My Faves

Happy New Year, everyone! I know it's been months since I last posted but I do hope you all are doing well. :) Also, if any of you are on Instagram, follow me! I post almost daily, I'm addicted! My username is lani12j. I created a beauty photo-a-day for my Instagram followers and thought it would be a good way to start blogging again. :) I didn't realize I put eyebrows twice lol but it's Okay, I Love eyebrows. Day four is bold lips. So here are a few of my faves: From left to right: Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense in #37, MAC Outrageously Fun, NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in Strawberry Jam, MAC Dear Diary & Wet N Wild Pinkerbell. :) What are some of your favorite bold lipsticks?

Makeupbee.com & Nails Of The Week

Aloha my lovely ladies! ;)

Just a quick thank you to all of you dolls who left the sweetest comments on my previous post regarding the bridal makeup that I did. You guys are very awesome and I appreciate your feedback! ;)

I wanted to share with you all a new makeup community, themakeupbee.com. I received an invite from them on my Twitter and I was able to check out the website and got to add a few of my makeup looks there. I really enjoy online makeup communities where I can meet and interact with other beauty enthusiasts like myself. In case you are wondering, it's totally free to sign up. All you have to do is fill out some basic information and they will send you a confirmation email and you're good to go. I've already met some amazing people on the site so it's definitely worth checking out. They were also kind enough to have me featured on their Facebook Page. Thank you, Makeupbee! =)

Believe it or not, I have been in somewhat of a makeup brain-fart stage. lol. I've been a little uninspired lately but it happens here and there. I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon and create something juicy lol. I've also been on a makeup no-buy because I seriously have so many things that I have yet to even open and try out. I am, however, a little crazy about nail polishes! I know I mentioned that before but I think I have a problem lol. In my last nail polish haul I mentioned a local nail supply store that has now closed after 25 years. Let me just say that they had some incredibly outrageous deals that I just could not resist. So expect a collective haul post soon. I was loving Orly and Zoya but my new favorite is CND (Creative Nail Design). The brush applicator is nothing like I've ever tried before. It's amazing! Anyhoo, here are my nails of the week. :)

NailTek II Intensive Therapy Base Coat, CND Colour in 'Plumville' (2 coats), Wet N' Wild's 'Party of 5 Glitters' (3 coats), & Seche Vite Top Coat

What are your favorite brands of polish? What are you currently rocking on your nails? I'd love to know! ;)

NBA Playoffs Makeup Series: Denver Nuggets

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Hello gorgeous ladies! ;)

Today's look is for the Denver Nuggets, whose colors are powder blue, white, gold and navy. I was happy with the results because I did have some bumps along the way. I used MAC's Felt Blue eyeshadow thinking it would be perfect as the powder blue but after applying it over the navy blue shadow it wasn't as light as I wanted it to be. So I had to pack on a matte white eyeshadow over it to get the right color. Let me know what you think, I hope you all enjoy it. ;)

NBA Playoffs Makeup Series: Miami Heat

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Hello my lovely ladies!

So it's on, my Celtics VS. Heat! So excited! Here is my look for the Miami Heat. Like my Celtics look, I opted not to use false lashes because I used an orange/coral liner on top of the black shadow. I made the liner by wetting my angled brush with MAC Fix+ and dipping it into Splash Cosmetics loose eyeshadow in Sunkiss Gold. Don't be afraid to experiment with the things you already have. I wasn't about to go and buy an orange liner just for this look, so I had to improvise. Remember that there are no limits when it comes to makeup so just experiment and have fun! :)

NBA Playoffs Makeup Series: Oklahoma City Thunder

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Hello Dolls! ;)

And the series keeps on going! lol. Today I chose to do a look for the Oklahoma City Thunder. This reminds me of a sunset look I did a while back. I just wanted to mention that I am aware that my skin looks different shades in my photos because I don't always get the same lighting. lol. Anyhoo, hope you all enjoy it! ;)

NBA Playoffs Makeup Series: Boston Celtics

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Hello my lovely ladies!

I know the playoffs already started but better late than never, right? My favorite team is the Boston Celtics and I'm hoping that they'll be able to bring home banner #18. Since they are my favorite, I thought I'd do the first look for them and I hope you like it. I chose not to add false lashes for this look, only because I used gold liner on top of the black liner, and I didn't want it to be overpowered by huge lashes. On another note, tonight is 31-cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins so if you love ice cream, head on over there until 10pm. :)

My First Giveaway honoring my 200 Followers!

Giveaway is now CLOSED!
Please do not comment on this post.

Hello dolls! I'm so excited to announce my very first giveaway to celebrate my 200 followers. I started this blog for my own leisure and to get to know other beauty enthusiasts like myself, and I am so glad that I've been able to keep in touch with all of you and share our love for makeup with each other. So I finally put together my giveaway items and I hope you all will enter! ;)

Purple & Blue Makeup

Hello dolls! I had some time to play with makeup today and I wanted to incorporate purple and blue together and this is what I came up with. Hope you like it! ;)

St. Patty's Day Makeup

Aloha everyone! Hope you all enjoyed St. Patty's Day! Here is a look I did using MAC & Wet N' Wild. Enjoy! ;)

Inspired Makeup: Illamasqua's Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Hello dolls! I'm back with another inspired makeup look. I loved the promo pictures for Illamasqua's Spring/Summer 2011 Collection so I thought I'd take a stab at it. To be quite honest, I don't own any Illamasqua Cosmetics so I did have to improvise on this one. This was a fun look to do, something I haven't done before. Kinda modern doll-like/ganguro makeup. I used Red Cherry lashes and cut the 1/4 end off and used it for the lower eye area just to give it a little kick. Do any of you own Illamasqua Cosmetics? If so, how do you like them? Any favorites you'd like to share? Hope you all enjoy this. Til next time!

Rasta Makeup

Alooooooooooooooha!

First of all, I would just like to apologize for the lack of updates, yet again. However, a big thank you to YOU for taking the time out of your day to visit my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you. I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year! ;)

Back in December, I was contacted by Stephanie from maximumlash.com to do a review on their product. Unforunately I had conjuctivitis for a while so I was steering clear of makeup. However, please stay tuned for my review on this product as I will be giving (4) weekly blog updates with a final YouTube video review. Thank you Stephanie!

Here is a fun look that I was able to do today. I was inspired the rasta colors, red, yellow, and green. I'm not wearing any foundation here, just concealer where needed and I also forgot to put on some blush! I know, how could I? lol. I hope you all enjoy this! ;)

    

My Top 10 Nude Lipsticks

Hello everyone! I'm back with another post. Today's topic is: My Top 10 Nude Lipsticks! This was a request by one of my YouTube viewers so here it is. :)

I am a huge fan of nude lippies! I'm much more of a lipstick gal than a lipgloss lover. With lipsticks, I don't have to be bothered by the wind-blowing-your-hair-onto-your-lips causing that dreaded lipgloss line on the face lol. I also prefer lipsticks for the pigmentation that it gives. As I mentioned in my previous post, my favorite finish for any type of makeup is Matte. Satin would be the next best thing. Don't get me wrong, I like the frosty ones too but I constantly find myself reaching for the Matte & Satin ones.

I've got a bajillion lipsticks and it was hard to choose just 10. I couldn't find my MAC Velvet Teddy Matte lipstick which is my all-time fave! :( I was a bit disappointed that it couldn't be featured in this post because it is lost somewhere in my stash.  If I was able to find it, I would've knocked off Blankety for Velvet Teddy. To ensure that this isn't a biased Top 10, I've included 5 MAC lipsticks as well as 5 other brands including my fave drugstore ones.

 

Red Velvet

Hello everyone! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend, or, what's left of it. :)

Here is a look I did the other day. Just the classic Marilyn Monroe/Pin-up look. I used the Wet N Wild Mega Last Matte Lipsticks-which I love! I love matte anything though-lipsticks, blush, eyeshadow. My favorite finish.

This is one of my most favorite makeup looks because it's so simple and easy to do and it's very classy and elegant. I believe every woman can rock red lipstick. :)

Cleopatra-esque

Howdy fellow bloggers & guests! It's been another hot minute since I last posted! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. ;)

I've been wanting to film another makeup tutorial but unfortunately I always seem to get distracted by the little ones. =T

I don't normally use black eyeshadow to fill in my brows, nor do I fill them in this way, but it was best for this particular look. The lip color is more accurate in the first photo and wasn't frosty and bright like the second one. I'm a little rusty in cutting the crease. I need to work on that a little more, I think I went a little too high with the crease.

Haul: Wet N Wild Limited Edition Holiday Palettes

*In the voice of Kim Kardashian* "Oh. Mygod." lol!

These gorgeous eyeshadow palettes have been swarming across beauty blogs and youtube channels for months. I first heard about these palettes from the lovely G. at nouveaucheap.blogspot.com. I absolutely love her blog. If you haven't already, please do give it a peep. =)

Apparently these palettes are hard to find. So far, I have read that they are and will be available at Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid. However, here in Hawaii, we only have CVS (formerly known as Long's Drugs) and Walgreens. I started my search for these palettes about a month ago. I had asked the sales associates about them and they simply responded that they didn't have them in yet. So I gave my number to 2 of my local Walgreens stores and requested that they give me a call as soon as they got their shipments. Just the other day, I had called one of the stores to ask if they got them yet. She put me on hold then came to the phone and proceeded to tell me that their display was all out. (insert dropped-jaw face here lol) I told her that I had left my number with an associate and that she taped it inside the cabinet underneath their cash register. I explained to her that I requested to be notified by phone as soon as they received the palettes. She apologized and told me that she would also let the department manager know. I then called the other Walgreens just to check on their status as well, and she too, said they didn't receive it yet. :(

NYX Girls Nail Polish Haul + Glittery Cheetah Nails

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been hauling lol. I wanted to share some of the NYX Girls Nail Polishes that I got from a local grocery store here in Hawaii (Don Quijote). I got these on sale (of course), the original price was $1.49 but I got them for $1.19. Not much of a difference but I saved some change nonetheless lol.

NYX Girls Nail Polishes

1. #118 in 'Second Skin'

2. #167 in 'Dreamy Glitter'

3. #115 in 'Milano'

4. #166 in 'Grand Royal'

5. #113 in 'Chocolate Taupe'

6. #105 in 'Algae'

Let me just say that I'm not much of a nail polish hoarder as I am a makeup hoarder. I don't always paint my nails and do anything fancy with them. Once in a while when I feel like playing around with them, I will. But I am not constantly changing up my tips or worrying about having naked nails. So I honestly don't like to shell out much for a nail polish. I only have a couple of OPI & Essie polishes which of course I got on sale. I just can't seem to justify paying 8 or 9 dollars for a bottle of nail paint so I usually like to snag polishes on sale if I spot some shades that are calling my name. I saw the one in Chocolate Taupe and immediately thought of it as being a dupe for Sephora by OPI's 'Metro Chic', which has been a very popular shade.

I had just dropped off my daughter to school this morning and since my son is spending some time at grandma's, I decided to play around with a couple of these polishes. For those who do not know, I absolutely love animal print! The cheetah print fabric that you see in all of my pictures is actually a top that I can't fit in at the moment due to being pregnant lol. Please excuse my dry cuticles. =T Oh and I used 3 coats of Chocolate Taupe.

Products Used:

1. Milani Nail Lacquer in 'Whitest White'

2. NYX Girls #166 in 'Grand Royal'

3. NYX Girls #113 in 'Chocolate Taupe'

4. L.A. Colors ArtDeco in 'Black'

5. Wet N' Wild Mega Last Quick Dry Ultra Gloss Top Coat (not pictured)

I would like to do a makeup tutorial but I can't decide on what look to do. Any ideas? Let me know.

Drugstore Collective Haul + Recent Mini Haul

Here are some things I've hauled over the past few weeks or so. A lot of these things I purchased due to awesome reviews on several blogs and youtube channels. Also, most of these items were on sale and that is definitely the best way to go. Drugstore brands are, for the most part, affordable as is, but to snag items that are at an extra percentage off or BOGO is even better.

One of the things I was really excited to try was the new Wet N' Wild products. They have come out with new matte lipsticks, single eyeshadows, eyeshadow palettes, along with some new formulated mascaras. All of which are great bargains. I am not too sure that they are out in CVS yet (or Longs, here in Hawaii) but I got mine from Walgreens.  From what I have seen, the new color icon palettes have several MAC dupes which was of course why I wanted to try them out so bad! :D I have used #249 palette in 'Vanity' a few times last week and I must say that I am impressed. The pigmentation is great and the eyeshadows are very buttery soft and easy to blend. I have tried WNW's single eyeshadows in the little pots before and they were great as well, very velvety smooth. I only decided to try one of the new matte lipsticks in #902 'Bare It All'. Wasn't too satisfied with that one as I found it is quite drying on the lips, but nothing a little gloss can't fix. You can be sure to check out an upcoming review on these new WNW products. :)

- N.Y.C. Bronzing Face Powder in #720A 'Sunny'

- Rimmel Blush in #031 'Berry' & #020 'Spice Nude'

- Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in #001 'Transluscent'

- L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara in #975 'Blackest Black'

- EcoTools Deluxe Concealer Brush

- Wet N' Wild Mega Eyes Single Eyeshadow Pot in #252A 'Goddess'

- Wet N' Wild Matte Lipstick in #902C 'Bare It All'

- Rimmel Lasting Finish Intense Wear Lipstick in #250 'Birthday Suit'

- Max Factor ColorGenius Mineral Blush in #110 'Peaches'

- Wet N' Wild Blush in #831E 'Pearlescent Pink' & #832E 'Heather Silk'

- Wet N' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette in #248 'Lust' & #249 'Vanity'

- Jordana InColor Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner in #02 'Brown'

- Wet N' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette in #247 'Pride' *Loved Lust and Vanity so much I had to go back for the Pride Palette :)

- Maybelline EyeStudio Eyeshadow Palette in #40 'Green With Envy' *This is <3 also!!

- Maybelline Define-A-Brow Eyebrow Pencil in #642 'Dark Brown' *Supposedly a dupe for the MAC eyebrow crayons (I usually use a mix of MAC Lingering and Spiked) and since I forgot my MAC ones at my mom's house I thought I'd give this a try.

and last but not least, my FAVE undereye concealer of all time...

- Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector in #730 'Medium' *I am going to safely say that this is my 3rd tube since July of last year. It is amazing! Must do a review on this as well.