Catrice: Mini Reviews and Swatches

 Aaah,Catrice.  One of my favorite drugstore brands.  Every time I travel to Europe, I am always eager to check out their collections.  They are always changing up their core collection - good if you want to try different things, but bad if you really like a product because you have no idea how long they'll be around for.

I already have a good selection of eyeshadows and nail polishes from Catrice, and I've been a fan of their products since the beginning.  For only 2,75, their eyeshadows have consistent quality.  The mattes are pigmented and buttery smooth, and they always manage to come up with unique colors.  I can safely say that some of my favorite eyeshadows are from Catrice!

Their nail polishes are also always on pointe. They have a fantastic selection of colors, both shimmery and matte, and I love their formulas. The nail polishes are conistently pigmented, opaque, and last for a long time - around a week - with my standard Seche Vite base and top coat.

I also really like the lipsticks from Catrice, although a lot of the shades aren't quite my style.  I have one MMLB-ish shade, but that's about as extensive as my lip collection from them goes.  This time, I found a couple more shades that I wanted to try, but I didn't actually go crazy for once.

The Hauling Begins: Barcelona and shopping in Spain

In case you haven't noticed, I've been in Spain recently.  In case you also haven't noticed, I like to shop.  So when I combine the two together, surely some magic has to happen.

I actually wasn't planning on buying too much, but of course things never go as planned.  While wandering through all these streets, I came upon so many nice stores and found some unexpected items that I absolutely love.

The first, and probably most treasured purchase of this trip was this black bag from a small boutique in Barcelona.  It was pretty much love at first sight with the large slouchy, but also slightly structured shape, and brown handles.  And although it is not real leather, it is still a soft buttery material.  I have been looking for a new tote bag for awhile, but did not expect to find it while I was in Barcelona at all, so I'm pretty happy with this purchase...but that's not even the best part.

It's actually three bags.  Yep.  There's a smaller bag inside that can be used as a shoulder bag (and also has become an essential for me), and there's also an even smaller wristlet/coin purse.  All for 40 Euros.  There was no way I wasn't buying this.

I'm really impressed with the quality, and I can fit my laptop (14'') plus everything I else I need for the day and I usually still have tons of space left.  I have been using it like crazy since it's really the only bag I have right now.  

This is just the beginning.  Read after the jump for more shopping!

Summer Clothes Update and a FOTD

I'm not one to buy new clothes very often - usually just one or two things here and there, but I really only go out with the intention of buying multiple things a few time a year.  Now that summer is here, it was time to update my closet with some essential I've been meaning to get.

Wandering through my usual stores - Forever 21, H&M, J. Crew - I found some good gems.  I also hit up Old Navy and Uniqlo and found more great items.  I really only bought bottoms - shorts, skirts, and dresses because I'm fairly satisfied with the tops in my collection

I didn't take a photo of everything as I haven't found the best lighting to take photos of it....but these things are so simple that I didn't take pictures of it all.

For the ones that did make it into the photo....

For all of who comment on my neutral clothing, here's some orange and purple for you ;)

For more of my picks and a recent FOTD, keep reading!

New in My Life

It's safe to say that my no-buy is officially over. From January to about the middle of March, I kept myself from buying any makeup to 1.) really use what I had and 2.) make an effort to save some money.  It worked for awhile - I was able to resist all the new products, new releases, and I was perfectly content rediscovering and finding new things in my collection.

However, eventually sales and the new summer products got to me and I had to add some new things to my collection.  Needless to say, my makeup buying is back with a bang, and I'm happily rolling in some new products!

I may or may not have jumbled up all my drugstore, Ulta, and other miscellaneous purchases with my Sephora purchases from dramatic purposes.

Click below to see the details!

Fyrinnae: the company that makes me giddy about makeup. Review, Haul, and Swatches!

I don't know what it is, but I've never really been into Indie makeup companies.  I have nothing against them, but I tend to forget about them, despite how FABULOUS they can be.  I think I can safely say that has changed.

Sometime around January, I had a sudden desire to start buying from Indie brands - I have no idea what prompted me to do so, but all of a sudden, I was spending hours browsing through various website and deciding what pigments and eyeshadows to get.  I think what drew me in was how complex different pigments could be - how one taupe shade could somehow have reflective shimmer in every color of the rainbow.  Most mainstream eyeshadow are not that complex, and let's face it - the prices of Indie companies is often more attractive, since a decent sized 1/4 tsp. sample is only around $1.75-$3.  These small samples are the perfect size to try a lot of different shades without having giant sizes of pigments that I'll never finish (MAC, I'm looking at you!)

Enter Fyrinnae into my life.  Within the beauty community, they are probably one of the best and unique Indie makeup companies.  Every time I see a look with Fyrinnae products, I'm kind of starstruck by how gorgeous everything looks.  The only thing that's tricky about Fyrinnae is that it can be difficult to order from them because their website is down a lot.  It's understandable - Fyrinnae is a very small company with a small staff, and since all their batches are handmade, it's easy to get overloaded with orders.  A lot of the times that I wanted to order something from their website, they were not taking orders, so when I saw that they were finally open again in January, I jumped at the chance to try some things out.

After furiously looking up swatches online, here's what I ended up with:

Keep reading for tons of pictures and swatches!

A Little Haul (NYX and Real Techniques) and What Goes On A Face - FOTD

I don't know what spring break means for you - but it certainly doesn't mean sitting in my room writing a paper the entire week.  Alas, my spring break was not full of sun, beaches, warm weather, or too much of a "break," at all, but at the end of the day, I'm actually glad I had time to work on my homework without having to worry about class for a week. (Note that this is the life of an overachieving nerd, and I'm desperately hoping it will all pay off in the end)  

BUT, I did manage to get a few things done. Beauty-related things, too!  I bought makeup for the first time since January...a BIG deal for someone as beauty and makeup obsessed as me.  And I only managed to spend $20..not too bad, right?  

Here's the damage:

To see more details (and swatches), as well as how I incorporated these into a look (plus a haircut), keep reading!

Hauling All the Way to the Holidays

Its that time of year again....the time of year that my bank account starts to suffer and weep because of all the beauty deals floating around, namely, the Sephora deals.  It's the only time of year they offer a 20% off discount, causing mass hysteria and panic to buy the most coveted limited edition palettes before they sell out.  In recent years, they've limited the sale to VIB members only, but if you're a beauty crazed addict like me, spending $350 is no big deal.  Plus, I justify it by spending about half that money on skincare, which is absolutely essential and more important than any cosmetic product.

After much planning, I've managed to stock up on skincare and scare some of the holiday offerings at Sephora.  Among the most popular items this year were the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette, Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, and the NARS One Night Stand Blush Palette.

I bought the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette when it first came out, and I'm glad I did because it ended up selling out almost immediately once the VIB sale started.  But for the actual VIB sale, here's what I ordered:

I had originally wanted the Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, but wasn't able to catch it in time, but I think I may like the Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things Palette better.  Stay tuned for a review coming up very soon!

 Read after the jump to see some more products I've been acquiring lately...

Updates and changes...A whole lot of random!

While I'm on a short break from school,I thought I'd take the time to catch up on some recent beauty, food, and life updates. My life has been a whirlwind of school and work, and while I love it, it's incredibly draining and challenging. Must of the week my schedule is packed from 7am to 8pm, and by the time the weekend arrives, all I can think about doing is sleeping.

I've made a couple small changes to this blog, mostly just some formatting and adding a new header and footer.  They're some small changes, but I like the extra details they add.  Let me know what you think of them!  

If you've been following my Instagram, you would still see any food pictures that I have, but my cooking experiments have also been drastically reduced. Although it's been ages since I've made anything noteworthy, here are still a few updates of what I've been up to recently....


Some baked pumpkin spice oatmeal:

It was ridiculously simple, following this recipe from Skinnytaste.com.  It was a great breakfast/snack/dessert, and I loved pairing it with some peanut butter, as well!  I may try this with quinoa in the future just to mix things up a bit.

Going home for a weekend now seems like much more of a luxury than it did before.  I can relax, use my parent's (large!) kitchen, watch TV, and forget about school for just a little bit.  However, I think I might like the FOOD the best of all! There's nothing like having a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator to play around in.  Trying to figure out what to do with a gigantic head of cauliflower, I decided to try out some cauliflower crust pizza, with homemade tomato sauce (my first ever!) and sausage, mushrooms, spinach, and mozzerella cheese on top.

It was pretty successful, except I don't think I let the crust bake enough, and the sauce could have used another 20 minutes of simmering to become thicker.  However, it tasted JUST like a real pizza, only without all the carbs!  The only downside was that this took my a better part of the afternoon to prepare the sauce and the cauliflower.  It turns out that wringing moisture out from pulverized cauliflower takes a lot longer than I thought...

Read after the jump to see more pictures and other happenings in my life

More new pretties to love....

Does is always seem like when your life gets busy, everything happens at once, and nothing seems to be evenly spread out?  That's what happened recently - for the better part of this summer I've been feeling like nothing much has been happening, and recently, I've been so busy I haven't even been able to properly sit down and relax until today.

This haul is long overdue as I bought some of these things over a month ago, but..better late than never, right?

I was a bad girl and went shopping. again. As much as I tell myself that I don't need more makeup, I always fall for just one more lipstick..or eyeliner.  Since my lipstick collection is now pretty complete, I went into Sephora to fill any holes I had in my eyeliner collection..and walked out with this:

I've wanted to try the Stila eyeliners since they came out, and I just had to have this set.  I have never seen the Kat von D eyeliner, but once I swatched it, I was in complete love.  I've never really been interested in eyeliner, but something about that day just had me thinking I need more eyeliners.  No, I really don't.


Read on to see some swatches and more products I couldn't resist!

A Few New Fashion Items to Love

Despite being obsessed with fashion and beauty, most of my shopping consists of makeup items, not fashion items.  When I go shopping I may pick up one or two things, but there are only a few times a year when I actually buy multiple things from multiple stores.  This is one of those times.

I have been really impressed with Forever 21's activewear line recently, and I could not resist these two items.  I loved the strapping on the sports bra, and I have been looking for a new pair of workout pants for the longest time.  I have worn these two already and love how they performed.  I'm also obsessed with this chartreuse green color! I can't remember how much they were but they were both between $12.50 and $15.50.

I then wandered into Cotton On, which I had seen a lot of while I was in Europe, but never actually shopped at.  I was completely surprised by its low prices and basic, but still trendy items (aka totally up my alley).  The two floral shorts were on sale for $10 each, and the skirts were 2 for $15, even though the black skirt alone was $14.50.   

Now about these black pants...these are pants I saw on people all the time in Europe, and not very often on people here.  They're a loose baggy pant that has thinner material than sweatpants (but just as comfy) and have a band by the ankle.  They're on the border of looking like pajamas.  But they're not.  I did curse myself on having huge thighs and ankles because these pants are in XL, while the skirts are size S.  Go figure...

Once I got back to DC, it only seemed fitting that I start everything off with some shopping.  But with a bank account being dangerously low, I had to limit myself.  Enter Buffalo Exchange.  I could easily spend hours in there going through racks of trendy, but second hand items, yet I only managed to leave with two items - the blue button down shirt from Gap, and the cropped pyramid cropped T-shirt from Forever 21.

I also obviously am attracted to neon pink, evidenced by the pink v-neck from GAP, and my new neon pink belt from H&M, which I managed to snag for $1.50 on clearance.  Score!   I blame my neon pink obsession on the fact that I've mostly exhausted my neon coral obsession...

This next item.  Oh my gosh.  I'm in love.  It is a beautiful 3/4 lengths shirt from H&M with the most beautiful embroidered detailing and a scalloped hem.  There are no words to describe this.

I was breathless when I saw this, and for $10, there was no way that this wasn't coming home with me.

Well, who knows how long it'll be before I buy more clothing items.  In the meantime, I'll be occupying myself with new makeup pretties, as usual ;)

A Haul Long Forgotten

Back when I was in Germany, I did some European makeup hauling that somehow never made it onto my blog.  I tried not to spend too much money on makeup, but I couldn't resist picking up a few things, mainly from Kiko and Art Deco.  I've already used and shown quite a few of these products, but never got around to reviewing them.  This month, I will definitely be taking these products out to get reviews up!

Here is all the damage!  I'm happy to say I've been loving ALL of these!

Read on to see more detailed pictures, swatches and more!

And the hunt ends (for now). Sneaker wedges??? New Jewelry finds and books!

For the better part of the last 4 months, I have been on the hunt for two specific pairs of shoes.  The perfect ankle boot and the perfect sneaker wedges that wouldn't break the bank.  Every time I saw either of these shoes, there was something just off about them, whether it was the sole, color, or material.  

This weekend, while trying to take advantage of Urban Outfitter's extra 50% off clearance sale, I found them.  It was complete fate that I would pick these up in glee.  The boots, by Sam Edelman, were the last pair left, and fit my perfectly, despite being a half size too big in what I usually wear.  The sneaker wedges also fit perfectly, a relief after I couldn't find a pair in Germany that I just loved.  To top things off, $30 for the Sam Edelman boots that I have lusted after for so long and $20 for the sneaker wedges had me tucking them under my arm and toting them home with me.

 Read after the jump to see more details and other pictures of what I found this weekend!

New obsessions...

...new obsessions for beauty, that is.  In a whirlwind of shopping this weekend, I've managed to get all the shoes I needed for the summer, as well as some new clothing (what's new?).  This only happens a couple times a year, and every other time I go shopping, I usually just get one or two pieces.  More details on those tomorrow, but my newest makeup acquisitions are just begging to be talked about.

When heading to the beach, I always accidentally wander into the Cosmetics Company Outlet to hunt for limited edition/discontinued/hard to find products.

First up - I have wanted to get Clinique's Black Honey gel liner for forever, and although it isn't hard to find by any means, I still picked this up while I could.  I haven't even tried it yet, but I've almost bought it so many times that I just took the leap this time!

The Estee Lauder Pure Color Blush in Naughty is my newest obsession.  It is a BRIGHT coral blush that actually stained my hand when I swatched it.  I clearly did not use the right brush with it today as I resembled something like a clown before I furiously blended it to an acceptable level.  Tomorrow, I will try again with a stippling blush in hopes of achieving that perfectly flushed look...  I had heard so much about how amazing these blushes were and they definitely didn't disappoint! In fact, when my wallet recovers (read: when I get a new job) I will definitely be getting more of these since I wanted practically every one I saw...

Lastly, this is so old I was shocked I even found it.  I have always wanted the MAC Viva Glam Cyndi lipglass for ages, but it was always sold out.  I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to get it!

This blog seems to be turning into a  documentation of everything I buy, but I promise, reviews will be coming soon!  After my upcoming posts on my new fashion items, that is...

And the hauling monster returns....

Stepped into a Rite-Aid for the first time this year, and I couldn't resist picking up a few things. 

L-R clockwise: Maybelline Vivids Lipstick in Electric Fuchsia, Covergirl 3 in 1 Outlast Foundation, Covergirl Lash Exact WP mascara, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint.

Covergirl Foundation, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint, Maybelline Electric Fuchsia

I've never been a huge Covergirl fan, but I've heard so many good things about the new Outlast Stay Fabuous 3 in 1 Foundation.  I picked it up today, and was pleasantly surprised by its light and watery texture.  I haven't worn it yet, but a quick swatch on my hand reminds me of MAC Face and Body.  The shade in 857 Golden Tan is a perfect match - such a perfect match on my hand that you can't even see it blended it in under the pumped out swatch.

I was also excited to see the new Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids collection, and had to resist getting all the shades.  I picked up Electric Fuchsia to begin with and the initial swatch is gorgeous.  I don't any shades like this so it'll be interesting to see how it looks on my face.

The Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint was a total impulse buy as I saw this all by itself and was drawn by its icy blue-mint color.  This will be a perfect base for some summer looks!

Last of all, I picked up the Covergirl Lash Exact mascara because I know my Max Factor one will dry up soon.  This is a tried and true waterproof mascara - it will not budge.  It provides some perfect volumized and lengthened lashes!

Although this was an unplanned haul, at least I know they were things I've wanted for awhile!  I'm sure I'll be back with more soon. Oops, there goes my bank account...

What was waiting for me when I came home.... + a cooking experiment

While I didn't buy too many things while I was abroad, I did make a couple purchases that I was excited to come home to.  More specifically, this...

Read about the products+ some of my ventures into cooking after the jump!

When in Paris...

When in Paris, it's hard not to get wrapped up in the effortless chicness of the French women.  They throw on a pair of heels and some red lipstick with everything.  Even with a pair of sneakers, they look chic when paired with a tailored trench coat and jeans that hit their ankles at the perfect spot.  They have perfect dewy skin (without obvious foundation!) and a natural rosy glow.  Their hair is impeccable, and don't even get me started on their perfumes.

In a desperate attempt to emulate some of their natural beauty, I hit up a couple French pharmacies and stores.

In the end, here's my modest haul - I only have so much space left in my suitcase after stocking up on German chocolate and beauty for the past four months:

 

I wasn't planning on buying Caudalie's Beauty Elixer, but after seeing it cheaper in a pharmacy, I couldn't resist.  It retails for $18 in the US, but I found this bottle for around 9 Euros, which is roughly $12.  I really enjoyed using this last summer and I really felt like it made my skin more radiant.  I didn't use a set time of day - sometimes I used this in the morning as my toner, sometimes at night, but definitely throughout the day to freshen up.

I also bought a travel size of Bioderma!  I honestly have no idea how to use this, as I'm quite content with my Clinique Take the Day Off cleanser, but I have heard so many raves about it I decided to pick up a small bottle.

The next item is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation.  This was a must-have on my list for Paris, as Bourjois is not available is not available in the US and I had also heard so many good things about it.  I picked up the shade 53, which is a little bit light for my skin tone, but at least it has a yellow undertone.  I have a number of foundations a little too dark, so this will be good to mix with.  I've only worn it for one day, but I like the semi-matte texture it has.  I was out and about all day yesterday when I wore it though, so I didn't really check the lasting power.  I didn't notice that I got too oily with it, so that's a good sign!

Yves Rocher is also a brand I had only heard of vaguely before going to Europe.  There are a few Yves Rocher stores in Berlin, but I had never entered any of them.  Curiousity got the better of me here and I walked into it.  It reminds me of a bath and body works with its bath and body products, but with a smaller range.  They also had a pretty big makeup collection, but none of the items really interested me.  I picked up a Malaysian Coconut body lotion in a travel size perfect for Barcelona, and a Strawberry body spray.  

I'm usually not interested in fruity body sprays at all, but as soon as I smelled the strawberry, I could not stop sniffing it.  It's slightly sugary and over-saturated, but sometimes you just have to indulge your inner 5-year old.  I think I'll love wearing this in the summer when I just want something fresh and simple.

The Coconut body lotion screams beach to me - it has a pure coconut smell that lingers for awhile after the lotion absorbs.  It's also simple, but sometimes simple is best.

Although I didn't pick up very many products, I'm happy with the selections I made.  I was able to resist makeup (except for the foundation, an essential, I'd say) and I picked up products I cannot find in the US.  Here's to hoping I become even one bit like a Parisian.