I'm Doing Makeup and I'm Still Alive - Life Updates

I had a major, unintentional hiatus. I really lost interest in blogging for a time, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. So many products, so little time...

Review: Kat Von D Chrysalis Eyeshadow Palette

I'm not much of a Kat Von D fan and I don't really care for "reality" TV at all.

But her makeup line's revamp? That I can certainly get on board with. Those Studded Kiss Lipsticks are calling my name! But this palette had to come first.

Review: OCC After Dark Stained Gloss Set

I Bought This

The OCC obsession continues! After I bought Pink Prism and Batty, I wanted to get more. The Stained Glosses had be hooked on release, but I never got around to buying any. The After Dark set fixed that!

BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER, consider what you want: a liquid lipstick or a sheer to opaque, staining gloss? People have confused these with the Lip Tar formula, which Stained Glosses aren't intended or designed to be anything like the original Lip Tar. At all. 

Review: L.A. Splash Lip Couture in Ghoulish (14214) (Lime Crime Velvetines Dupe?!)

I hate Lime Crime with a burning passion and the newest scandal just disturbs me. This is the only mention it will get on this blog, because I have never supported the brand and will not in the future. Due to the scandal, people are looking for alternatives to Velvetines, the liquid-to-matte lipstick that's painfully drying (not a pretty look). Me? I just want an awesome liquid-to-matte that won't budge.

DAYUM. It's been a while.

Nothing to Disclose

Sorry everyone. It's been radio silence since... When? I lost track. I haven't done a whole lot recently; the end of 2014 was stressful. I have a pretty big backlog of reviews to finish! And Valentine's Day is coming, so things might be a bit more delayed.

Future reviews...

• Ion Haircare - Reconstructor, a keratin product, their Clear Shade Diluter (it's not actually clear!)

•  Kat von D Chrysalis palette - An absolutely gorgeous palette that I am seriously loving.

• Skullcandy Dime Earbuds - I  know it's not beauty related, but there aren't enough reviews for these suckers. I love them.

• Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe - Great formula. For what I use it for, it's awesome.

• NYX Hot Singles Eyeshadow in S.O.S. - I use it in combination with the Color Tattoo.

• OCC After Dark Stained Gloss Test Tube set - These have some bad reviews on Sephora, but I don't get why. It seems to be a straight misunderstanding of the product. I, for one, really like the formula and I'm not really a lip gloss person.

That's about it for now. I'll work on getting reviews out. Sorry again for the radio silence!

SPOOKEHDOOM

Review: L.A. Girl GLAZED Lip Paints in Blushing & Coy

These are pretty flipping amazing liquid lipsticks from the drugstore. Love 'em.

They're a great dupe to Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipstick, but definitely not a dupe for OCC Lip Tars.

L.A. Girl is a semi-hard-to-get line of pretty big proportions. Concealers, nail polishes, you name it, they likely have it. The GLAZED Lip Paints have been really making a huge buzz in the beauty world, particularly after they released a nice selection of new shades. With a line up of 18colors ranging from nudy-pinks to rich, vampy purple, it is insane.

GLAZED is packaged in an opaque plastic tube, very similar in appearance to Too Faced Melted and have standard-sized gold caps. Unlike Too Faced, which has a velvety doe-foot on the tube, these are just a black plastic doe foot. Despite this normally being an ill-advised applicator, it actually works for spreading product out. A lip brush is necessary for edges with colors like Coy.

Coy isn't actually grainy. I think that's from my lips (gross, I know).

Blushing is a dusty, dark mauve that can be quite subtle and natural. It's pretty soft, despite the tube's color! It's a color that can be worn with just about anything, since it's a subtle shade. What most call universal! Try it for yourself, since I'm ghastly pale and find the color flattering. This was completely opaque and I could get a nice edge around my lips with the tube alone.

Coy is a bright violet with pink undertones. Despite of the brightness, it's actually kind of calm! I don't wear a whole lot of purple lip products, which is mainly because I'm afraid my lips will be screaming but Coy? Coy is good. It lives up to it's name, in that it's quite playful and not particularly loud. I found it be sheer if you reapply over an area too much but it can be fixed by dabbing the product on and smoothing it with your lips or a brush. A lip brush helped me to get a clean lip line, which I couldn't manage with the tube.

Blushing on the right, Coy on the left.

I didn't find either shade particularly drying, but didn't really find them hydrating.My lips certainly weren't worse for wear after I took off Coy, which is a very good thing for someone who tends to have very dry lips (ew). I did find Coy leaving a nice stain after it faded. These last for a handful of hours with drinking, and last quite well when you aren't eating or drinking!

As I said above, GLAZED is definitely not an OCC Lip Tar dupe. Lip Tar is more liquid and thin, making it easy to spread. GLAZED is much thicker by comparison, but can be spread and applied from the tube much like Melted. You're bound to make a mess applying Lip Tar directly from the tube! I used a lip brush with Coy since I couldn't quite get a nice edge around my lips with the tube itself, like I again mentioned above. These have more in common with Too Faced Melted, since they both sport a thicker formula as well as being on the glossy side. While GLAZED shares a color family with Lip Tar, they aren't dupes in term of formula. The only "dupeable" part of Lip Tar? Mixing GLAZED colors together is pretty easy. Since I don't have a cute Paw Palette to use, I mixed Coy and Blushing on the back of my hand and the result is rather pretty to me.

You can find L.A. Girl GLAZED at Five Below, Harmons and a few other retailers, as well as online at L.A. Girl's website. Hot Topic has only two shades, and my nearby Five Below had the original colors but none of the new shades. Elude looks absolutely ghastly on the website, which is a bit entertaining and I'd love to see it for myself.

SPOOKEHDOOM

DIY: Rose + Antlers Headband

As part of my Halloween costume, I had to make an antler headband, because the costume store options are kind of ugly and cartoony. Handmade options can be pricy and don't have that customized flare.

They weren't going to get here in time either, so it's either something silly from a costume store or something pretty and personally customized. (Since I always have to take the difficult route!)