20 Beauty Questions

By on May 22, 2010 in Question Time

You’re all tagged! Respond through comments, email, or twitter :)

  1. What is the one product you’d grab if your house was on fire?
    NARS Sheer Glow –  I use it as foundation and concealer
  2. Which blogger would you want to do your makeover?
    Sam or Nic from Pixiwoo!
  3. What celeb do people think you look like?
    I don’t think I look much like any celebrities, do you?
  4. What beauty product do you save for date night?
    Black gel liner
  5. Which of your guy friends takes longer than you to get ready?
    My boyfriend, but only because he spends about 25 minutes on his very specific brushing/flossing/mouthwash routine
  6. If you could create your own miracle beauty product, what would it be?
    A mascara that doesn’t flake or smudge, leaves lashes soft, and comes off easily
  7. What’s your best beauty tip?
    Comb out your mascara while it’s still wet!!
  8. What beauty products do you love to splurge on?
    MAC’s Lustre formula lipsticks
  9. Which bloggers would you bring on a shopping spree?
    Karla from TNBTTGSY and Charlotte from Lipglossiping
  10. What is your signature scent?
    In my imagination, it’s Miss Dior Cherie
  11. I am on an endless quest for the perfect _________.
    Mascara – I’m very picky about what I need
  12. How many beauty products does it take to get you ready?
    Usually 5: foundation, powder, blush, lip something, and mascara
  13. What lipstick/lip gloss is in your purse right now?
    Korres Jasmine Lip Butter
  14. Who is your celebrity beauty icon?
    Taylor Swift always looks beautiful and is a great role model
  15. Name the beauty brand you’d most love to be a spokesperson for?
    Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier
  16. What’s your current nail polish?
    OPI Chapel of Love (everything NARS Orgasm polish should have been)
  17. Fave mascara right now?
    I don’t have one :(
  18. The last thing you bought at Sephora?
    The Philosophy Beach Girl lotion and 3-in-1 sets for my sister.
  19. I try never to be seen without wearing _______.
    A bit of foundation; my face is pretty ruddy on its own
  20. What’s one beauty product you’d always recommend?
    Korres Lip Butters, especially Jasmine, Mango, and Pomegranate
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Get 25% Off NYX at Cherry Culture

By on May 21, 2010 in Beauty Deals

I wrote about NYX Cosmetics in my explanation of depotting, and today I got an email about a great sale! Use code NYX25 for a 25% discount on all NYX products, some of which are already on sale.

I’ve tried some NYX products in the past and I think they’re great value for money. I recommend the eyeshadows, blushes, and cream blushes especially; however I find the lipgloss to be extremely sticky and unpleasant to wear. It also smells like Dimetapp.

Remember: you can depot the NYX trios and mix them in with MAC shadows!

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How To: Depot Your MAC Shadows & Blushes

By on May 18, 2010 in Tutorials

Depotting single MAC products is fairly easy, but since we’ll be working with a flat iron I feel obligated to advise caution. Be careful and don’t burn yourself!

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There are a number of methods out there including a ‘no heat’ version. I couldn’t make that work for me at all, so here’s my version. You’ll need:

  • Flat iron (1” for shadows, 2” for blushes)
  • MAC products to depot
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Cotton buds
  • Small flathead screwdriver
  • Tweezers
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Storage Tip: Depot Your MAC Products!

By on May 18, 2010 in Tutorials

Depotting Depotting is a great way to organize and streamline your makeup collection. I used to resist putting my makeup into palettes. I kept convincing myself I needed the single items for portability. I pretended I was a glamorous jetsetter who needs to reapply frequently lest the paparazzi snap an unflattering photo. But honestly, I never fix makeup other than lip products during the day, and it’s plenty easy to take only a few depots along on a trip (I’ll go over this in another post).

I’m going to go over depotting MAC products first because they run a great recycling program called Back 2 MAC. Basically, you bring 6 empty MAC containers to a store and they’ll let you pick a free product. At counters, you can pick any eye shadow; at freestanding stores you have a choice of shadow, lipstick, or gloss. If you’re not near a MAC retailer, you can also mail them in somehow. According to my store, it’s completely fine to bring in plastic packaging without the metal pans.

Once you depot, you’ll need a palette. Eye shadow and blush palettes can be purchased directly from MAC or you can purchase similar ones for less at Coastal Scents.

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Win Cover Girl Petal Shine TruShine Lipstick!

By on May 17, 2010 in Contests

In honor of starting this blog, I’m giving away a brand new lipstick to one lucky reader. Petal Shine is a lovely sheer pinky-nude (totally ‘my lips but better’). See below for a comparison to MAC Patisserie.

Two ways to win! Do both to increase your chances

  1. Follow me on Google Friend Connect and leave a comment with your username
  2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet this message: Follow @mylipsbutbetter & RT to win CG Petal Shine!! see http://bit.ly/aZcTDO for more info

Rules:

  • USA/Canada entries only
  • Contest will end at 11:59 PM PST on May 21, 2010
  • Enter up to once per day for a maximum of 5 entries

I went and bought a second lipstick, so congrats to fire.in.the.disco13 and @kissesforusall!

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Chanel, Revlon & MAC Lip Swatches

By on May 16, 2010 in Swatches

All of these lipsticks were recently released and much talked about. For reference I’m about NW15 in MAC foundations (or, as I learned today, just barely darker than an albino).

CHANEL ROUGE COCO
  • Mademoiselle is one of my favorites in this bunch. It’s very flattering on lighter skin like mine. I’d love to see how it looks on darker skin (hint!) The lipstick itself (like all the Rouge Coco’s) is very creamy and moisturizing. I’m not a huge fan of the scent, though. I would describe it as old and flowery, whereas MAC’s lipsticks are slightly vanilla.
  • Legende is more of a statement color. In real life it’s a bit brighter and there is some frost. Frost is not my thing, but if you love it then add Legende and Ruban Rose to your shopping list!
  • Cambon is a beautiful blue-based red. I don’t tend to like reds on myself, but I love how creamy this color is. I’ve heard that the famous MAC reds are very drying. Pardon the blurry edges… I couldn’t find my good lip brush for these pics.
REVLON COLORBURST AND MAC VIVA GLAM
  • Soft Nude looks okay close up, but when you see my whole face it makes me look like a corpse. Since others have raved about this color, so I’m going to assume it looks terrible on me because I have pinker skin. Despite the color issues, I love this formula and will make sure to purchase more Revlon Colorbursts. I especially like the luxe quilted packaging, since so many drugstore brand lipsticks look cheesy.
  • Blush is from the same line as Soft Nude, so the texture is similarly awesome. It’s a great MLBB color for light-to-medium skin and the price means you can buy two and keep one in your purse! I think I’ll be giving away some lipsticks from this line next month.
  • I almost didn’t give Gaga a chance because it looks so scary in the tube, but I’m so glad I did! This is hands down my favorite recent lipstick purchase. I’m in love with MAC’s lustre formula because it’s moisturizing and sheer—I like still being able to see a bit of my natural color and freckles. I also think the wash of cool pink creates a really neat color. If you haven’t already gotten this (or Cyndi), make sure you do! You get pretty lipstick and 100% of your money goes to charity.
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Our beauty philosophy…

By on May 14, 2010 in Site News

It’s so easy to forget what real women look like when all we see is nip, tuck, lighting, and airbrushing. We forget that even the hottest celebrities wake up with unruly hair, baggy undereyes, and inflamed pimples. In order to meet impossible beauty standards, some women feel forced to apply tons of makeup. I’m not one of those people, and I don’t think most women want to make that part of their routines.

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I’m creating this blog for women who want friends and coworkers to say “she looks pretty” not “she has nice makeup.” I hope to help you create looks that feel comfortable, polished, and sexy. I’m going to present techniques and products to help you achieve that bright-eyed, glowing look at any age.  I also hope to help you create subtle variations in your makeup routine.

I’m still figuring out how to best present my ideas and what sorts of features people will most enjoy reading. I’m planning on some tutorials, product reviews, haul posts, swatches, and of course giveaways! If you have any suggestions (or if you just want to tell me you read this!), please email or tweet @mylipsbutbetter

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