Musings of a Muse

Your Muse just got in from the dinner and a movie and decided to make it a rather early night! New York in the winter is NOT a fun place to be! It’s cold and windy and bloody brutal weather for a Muse to be out in!

So she’s home now, comfy in her bed, blogging to you gorgeous ladies!

Today is sadly the last day of Autumn and it’s all down hill from here on out! The snow will be here soon! In celebration of that I did a bit of a Fall-ish look!

Hope you love it!

Cheers and Happy Weekend!
Your defrosting Muse!

What I Used:

Eyes
bareMinerals Glimmer in True Gold
bareMinerals Glimmer in Cerveza
MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle
MAC Pigment in Rushmetal
MAC Pigment in Vanilla
theBalm Overshadow in You Buy, I’ll Fly
MAC Pigment in Off the Radar
Bare Escentuals Beautifully Luminous Lashes in Bronze
MAC Technakohl in Black
MJ Lash Enamel Glamour
MJ Lash Bond Primer

Face:
MAC Blush in Fab
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Shimpagne

Lips:
MAC Liptick in Strapless
Lancome Juicy Gelee in Fruit Punch

I’ve already reviewed some of the products I used! If you’re interested you can click on them as I’ve embedded some links! Those are the links in orange! Just click and you’ll be magically whisked away to the review of that product!

Enjoy!

I’ve been using Too Faced Liquif-Eye for ages and I’m always on the fence about whether it’s a staple product for me or just another flash in the pan that’s interesting but not really worth it’s price tag!

I use this quite alot to be honest and I really love it but the price tag may turn some off! At $17.50 you get a small bottle of liquid liner and an applicator. What’s so special about that? The liner is actually a clear formula that you can use to turn any eyeshadow in your collection into an eyeliner.

It’s easy enough to use. Just swipe the applicator onto your favorite eyeshadow and line your eyes! Presto! A million eyeliners at your fingertips thanks to one little bottle of potion!

Nifty right?

I guess you might be thinking that you could do the exact same thing with water and I have tried but I find this actually makes my eyeshadow turned eyeliner waterproof, smudge proof, and long wearing!

After each use I normally wipe this down with a damp tissue and the product comes off easy enough for my next use so I’m not lining my eyes with yesterday’s color so to speak! The applicator is nice and hard so it makes lining my eyes easy! It’s not a soft bristle brush it’s almost like the point of a fine pencil so lining is easy and smooth without a bunch of drama of bristles screwing up the look you are trying to achieve! Dipping this in Urban Decay Oil Slick Eyeshadow and doing a cat eye with this is a dream come true! It comes out flawlessly and beautiful!

I honestly can say you might be able to find a cheaper alternative but I really like the applicator, the formula, and the general idea of how well this works!

It’s in my traincase!

Use it?
Love it?
Tell me!

Too Faced Liquif-Eye

That quite sounds like a disease doesn’t it? Piggie Vial? Oh my it does indeed!

You might (or might not if you happen to be a MAC Whore like the Muse) be wondering what Piggie Vials are! Piggie Vials are actually Pigment Vials which are smaller containers of MAC pigment. You can only get pigment vials around the Holidays (or at least that’s been the case for the last few years) and they normally come sold in sets of five or so!

Now you might be wondering why I am bringing this up in a blog post! Well I think that the importance of Pigment Vials is underestimated and it’s my job to tell you how important they are!

Pigment vials contain 2.5 grams of pigment in one rather cute little vial! Why is this important? MAC Pigments are so pigmented that a little product goes a long way and vials are the perfect solution to not purchasing a large jar of pigment that will take you literally years to get through!

A normal jar of pigment is 7.5 grams in size and is $19.50 while pigment vials are sold normally in lots of 5 for $29.50. That means you’ll get 12.5 grams of pigment for a nice little price plus it’s a variety of colors you’ll receive and enough product that’ll last you ages and ages!

I’m addicted to pigments and as appealing as large pigment jars are I’d love if MAC started offering pigment vials as a regular catalog item! How great would it be to walk up to your MAC counter and have the option of buying a full size jar of pigment or a vial of pigment!

Until that time comes (MAC are you listening? We want more piggie vials!) I adore picking up the Holiday collections with the 5 very cute vials that allow me to have an array of colors for an inexpensive price tag!

MAC Pigment and Glitter Vials

MAC introduced two new pigment sets this year which are a warm and a cool selection for $29.50USD each!

MAC Curiousitease Warm Pigment

MAC Curiousitease Cool Pigment

The moral of the story is if you’re on the fence or you’re new to MAC and you’re feeling overwhelmed by the vast collection of color why not settle for a gorgeous set of pigments!

Now is a great time to get them as they are up and available for the Holiday Season!

MAC Pigments (big or small) are always Muse Approved!

Sometimes being a MAC Whore is hard work. Last Thursday MAC released Metal X which is a collection of gorgeous metallic cream eyeshadows and some fantastic glitter eyeliners! The entire lot is very appealing and of course the Muse wants it all!

Sadly, I’m having a hard time keeping up with MAC lately! I still have the Finery lip bags, Stylistics, and now Metal X on my wish list! Oh woe is me! Choices, choices, choices! It’s so difficult to decide! I want them all to be honest but it’s the Holidays and it’s time for giving, to others, not myself so I’m in the boat deciding which collections to pass and which collections to get!

As appealing and gorgeous as Metal X is I think I may have to pass. I’ve heard reviews about the shadows creasing rather badly plus I’m not a cream lover anyway! As for the glitter liners I know they’ll somehow make their way into my cart one way or another but I should kindly remind myself that I still have last year’s liners which are almost the same colors as this years (except renamed).

Metal X’s collection consists of the following yummie goodies:

Cream Eyeshadows

• Virgin Silver
• Pure Ore
• Goldspice
• Fusion Gold
• Pink Ingot
• Metalblu
• Cyber
• 6th Sin
• Plum Electric

Glitter Liners

• Blitzed
• Wonderwhite
• Enbronze
• Limedandy
• Pewterpink

Previous Glitter Eyeliner comparisons:

Limedany=Divine Lime
Glamourgold=Blitzed
Pewterpink=Saucepot or Pinkphobic
Enbronze=Oxidate
Wonderwhite=Spunsilver

From Left to Right: Spunsilver, Saucepot, Divine Lime, Oxidate, Pinkphobic, Blitzed

I know that the Metal X glitter eyeliners are going to win me over and I’ll somehow end up purchasing at least one or two of the eyeshadows out of curiosity but as you can see from the photo above the glitter liners appear to be very similar to previous releases! I haven’t yet seen any of the collection in person but I hope and a pray I’m right that the liners are pretty much the same colors I already have in my collection (or should I say my wallet prays)!

Overall, it looks like a fantastic collection but I’m trying hard to resist!

Want it?
Passing?
Tell me!

Bare Escentuals came out with this really awesome set of lippes about a year ago. That’s the perfect word for them really, lippies, because I don’t really know what else to call them! They aren’t a lipstick and they aren’t a gloss and they aren’t even a cross between the two! They have a category all their own I suppose.

The formula on these is a waxy balm that goes on smoothly, evenly, and offers great moisturize but that’s not the best part. The best part is the color! These are tinted with some of the nicest, most natural colors I’ve ever come across!

My favorite in the lot of two is Barely Berry which literally gives you the perfect “rosebud” pout! I adore this color and it looks so natural and fresh on me! My lips aren’t particularly gorgeous minus gloss and stain so I’m always slathering something on to make them look pretty. On the days I don’t feel like a buncha of gloss, lipstick or stain I use Barely Berry to make my lips look beautifully fresh!

I’m really, really impressed with these and I’m sad to say that they appear to be no longer available! However, if you are interested I have seen them pop up on E-bay!

The second color the set came with is Barely Sorbert which is a natural peach color. This isn’t my favorite of the lot but it is a beautiful very sweet peach color that would be flattering on anyone that carries a more nude color to their lips!

Both are really great products and of course, utterly and totally Muse Approved!

Bit o’ Glitter Today!

What I Used:

Eyes
Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eyeshadow in Concerto
Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eyeshadow in Sparkling White
MAC Technakohl in Black
Tony and Tiny Herbal Glitter Pencil in Black/Silver
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Liner in Pyrotechnics
Bare Escentuals Beautifully Luminous Mascara and Overcoat Duo in White Diamond

Face
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Porcelain Pink
MAC Blush in Full Fuchsia
T’estimo Highlighter in WT-04

Lips
Urban Decay Lip Envy in Greedy
Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips in Dominique

The most lovely Regina at Margarita Boom has informed the Muse that you can get 25% off your entire order up until the New Year!

This is a tremendous value and a great time to stock up on some great and unique Bath and Body goodies as gifts and stocking stuffers!

I featured Margarita Bloom in a Few of my Favorite Stocking Stuffers post! You can click here and check it out!

The Muse is off to fill her cart with goodies!

It may sound unappealing but I rock the home shopping boat every year for Christmas! Many people think that shopping from QVC will nab you cheap gifts that are not worth the effort or the money of ordering but that’s not the case! You can nab some great gifts that are inexpensive and quite posh! They also offer great flexible payment options to spread your payments into small monthly payments rather then paying the entire amount right away! Many cosmetic options also have some products that are exclusive to QVC so these are items you can’t purchase from anywhere else!

I’ve gathered together a few Philosophy items that are really great deals in my opinion and maybe they’ll simplify your Christmas gift list!

Philosophy Lemonade 5-Piece Deluxe Set Available at QVC Item Number A18856 $80USD

Includes all of the following items:

• 16-fl oz old fashioned lemonade shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath
• 8-oz lemonade body butter
• 23-oz old fashioned lemonade salt scrub
• 2-oz lemonade hand cream
• 0.5 oz lemon-flavored lip shine

Purchased separately this entire lot would run you $91USD

Lemonade isn’t my favorite philosophy Shower Gel but this lot of items will save you $11 if you purchased them separately so not a bad deal!

Philosophy Flavored Lip Collection Available from QVC Item Number A72108 $29.98

Includes all of the following:

• lip gloss in vanilla birthday cake
• lip gloss in powdered sugar cookie
• lip gloss in raspberry sorbet
• lip gloss in melon daiquiri

Purchased separately each lip shine is $10 which totals $40 for four! You’ll save $10 by getting this set!

Philosophy Amazing Grace Head to Toe 6 Piece Layering Kit Available from QVC Item Number A4518

Includes all of the following items:

• 8-oz amazing grace shampoo, bath, and shower gel
• 8-oz amazing grace hair conditioner
• 8-oz amazing grace firming body emulsion
• 1-oz amazing grace hand cream
• 2-oz amazing grace spray fragrance
• 0.27 oz amazing grace perfume oil
• 2-oz bonus purity made simple facial cleanser
• 0.4 oz bonus hope in a jar moisturizer

Some of the items in set set aren’t valued but if you add together the shampoo, conditioner, body emulsion, hand cream, spray perfume, and oil it comes to $87 or more!

Happy Shopping!

Your Muse is always a busy bee and she presents to you two new Specktra Blog posts!

One from this week and one from last week!

Enjoy!

Majolica Majorca’s Lash Expander Review

And

The Perfect Blush

If you use MJ Mascara do let me know what you think of it!

Cheers!

A few months ago when I purchased my lot of Novel Twist from MAC I decided to wander into Sephora where I came across two Stila palettes that I fell in love with and purchased!

It had been a while since I had seen the Stila girls on any packaging so upon seeing it pretty much sold me without even peeking inside either palette to see the colors (Sometimes packaging is all it takes for a general cosmetic junkie to get excited!).

The Look Books are a $40 package which include everything you need to create the perfect face. You get three shadows, one blush, and a Stila IT Gloss.

Not a bad deal in my opinion.

After getting these home I wandered onto Sephora’s website and came across two MORE Look Books! So altogether four were released! After that I quickly e-mailed my fellow Stila addict Iris and explained that these were available did she want them to which she replied that Japan had already gotten them! Oh well so much for sharing the love with my good bud (damn US we’re always behind in everything!).

A few months pasted and my obsession with obtaining the other two books was pushed towards the back burner while I pursued the Holiday Collections I was so desperately wanting!

When Sephora’s Friend and Family Discount rolled around I remembered that my little Wish List had contained the other two books I hadn’t previously gotten so they quickly ended up in my cart! Hey, 20% off sweetened the deal so I most definably wanted these while the saving was good (although they’ll be plenty of time in the summer to kick myself in the arse for paying the price I did when they’ll probably be available at the Stila Warehouse sale for like $5 each! *groan*)!

This is a rather long story isn’t it?

To the goods!

BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!!

Stila Look Books

So as I was saying these are a total value. You’re getting full size shadows, blush, and a full size gloss (no minis here)!

Stila IT Glosses

What more could a girl want (lots I know)?

There isn’t any creativity behind the names of these little palettes so they just basically range as Stila Look Book 1-4!

Stila Look Book 1 features a lovely brunette on the cover and inside we have some yummie delightful shades to work with! This palette comes with rose blush, heather, grace, and espresso eyeshadow and an IT Gloss in Smashing.

Rose is your standard dusty rose color that will be flattering on most skin shades. Grace shadow is a lovely taupe beige color while Espresso contrasts this shade perfect and is a deeper brown! Mostly I think they are wanting you to use Espresso as a liner shade but I think you can safely get away with using it as a contrasting shadow by offsetting it with Grace. Grace is a shimmering shade while Espresso is a matte. Heather is a soft beige pink color that’ll be perfect for using as a wash of color all over the eye prepping it for the darker shades in the palette. And finally the gloss with this is Smashing which is a bright shimmering pink and seems quite out of place with the colors of the palette but hey the Muse never says no to pink gloss!

Look Book 2 comes with lame, oasis, and coin eyeshadow, tint blush, and enchanting IT Gloss. The Tint blush is nothing to write home about and it sadly looks like it may be lacking pigment (I haven’t tried it yet) but the shadows are yummie so that more than makes up for the blush! Lame shadow is a shimmering gold, Oasis is a shimmering pink, and Coin is a soft chocolate brown which is matte for the most part but does have tiny flecks of gold. Coin and Gold go well together but Oasis you may find a little difficult working into the look but with a little creativity you’re sure to create a great look with the colors! Enchanting gloss, out of all the palettes, is the one that I like the least. It’s pretty enough but it contains no shimmer the finish is more of a pearl which isn’t a favorite of mine. The color is a cross between a pink and a peach!

Look Book 3 is another disappointment in the blush department. The blush included with this palette is Fade and it’s a bronze color and we all know how I feel about bronze! The only redeeming color in the entire palette is Shell shadow which is a shimmering dusty pink color. The other two shadows included are Puck and Dahlia. Puck is a gray brown color that isn’t all that exciting. Dahlia is a navy blue matte color which again does nothing to make me jump around! Sadly the entire palette is a mix up color combination if every I did see one and it’s going to take some hard work to come up with a good look using it. The redeeming factor would be the IT Gloss included in Sweet which is a rosy brown shimmer that’s very pretty!

And finally Look Book 4 which has some very gorgeous colors and could be my favorite of the lot! This contains a blush called Heat which is a dusty rose color that’s very pretty and natural on! It also includes eyeshadows in icon, twig, and nude. Icon is a pretty peachy, brown, pink shimmer while Heat offsets this color and is a deep reddish brown shimmer and finally Icon which is a shimmering nude. All the colors in this palette just go great together plus none are matte which is a plus for me! The gloss is an odd choice for this look as it’s a peach shimmer but it’s beautiful and I’m positive I’ll find a look to use it with! The color of the gloss is called Inviting!

Over all these have some great value for your buck as you’re getting 5 full size products plus cute packaging! If you’re a serious collector of Stila you’re going to want these badly! If you’re a casual shopper you may want to buy at least get one (might I suggest #4)! It’s alot of product for the $40 and a nice deal!

Of course if you happen to live in California the Muse highly recommends waiting for the blessed Stila Warehouse Sale!

These palettes are Muse Approved for purchase!

The lovely people at Lancome Canada have kindly asked me to submit a link to my site for them! And of course the Muse loves Lancome so she wouldn’t mind linking to them at all!

Since I know some of my readers are in Canada this may be a helpful link for YOU!

Online since 2001, www.lancome.ca offers Canadian women the ability to browse, experience personalized makeup and skincare consultations, and keep abreast of the latest beauty trends 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

My eyes do spy a Free Gift with Purchase for my Canadian friends! Click on over and shop! If you spend $65 or more you’ll get quite a nice lot goodies!

A special note from Katherine at Lush Mailorder NA!

Here’s the details for ordering the perfumes I had mentioned in my previous post!

Let me know what you get!

I’m only getting Bathos (Although I already have V I’m curious how this will be), Black Pearl, and Lily since I have stockpiles of Candy Fluff and Snowcake I’m skipping on those!

LUSH UK has invited LUSH NA to participate in their limited-edition fragrance round in conjunction with their IF Forum Party. We are still working out the details, but this is what we know so far:

WHAT
Six atomizer fragrances offered in 30ml/1.0 fl..oz. size (prices TBD).
1. Olive Branch $49.95
2. Candy Fluff $34.95
3. Snowcake $34.95
4. Lily $44.95
5. Black Pearl $39.95
6. Bathos $42.95

All prices are the same for CAD & USD

WHEN

International Forum Party
Friday, Nov. 30 — 9 am to 9 pm GMT (1 am – 1 pm PST)
Saturday, Dec. 1 – 9 am to 5 pm GMT (1 am – 1 pm PST)

LUSH NA Online Fragrance Sales www.lush.com/fragrances
Starts: Friday November 30th 1:00 am PST (to coincide with start of party in UK)
Ends: Saturday, December 1st 11:59 pm PST (so we can get started on the manufacturing…)

WHO
Open to all LUSH customers, but will only be promoted on the LUSH NA and LUSH UK Forums.

WHERE
To join the party, visit the LUSH UK website. If you are not a member already, we suggest you sign up well before the party starts.

OTHER STUFF
* All orders to be shipped to US or Canada must be placed through LUSH NA websites. (UK will not accept orders to be shipped to North America.)
* We don’t have a “ship date” yet. While we are certainly trying to get this order to you as quickly as possible, we do not know if we can get your order to you in time for Christmas or other holiday celebrations (details to come…).
* We will process your payment at the time your order is placed.
* Our current offer for Free Shipping with orders of $99 or more will apply to qualifying orders placed during this time.
* Ordering will be for these six fragrances only. It cannot be combined with any other order.
*No promo codes can be used during this event.
*More details to come. Check the website for details.

See you at the IF Forum Party!
The LUSH Team

A big thanks to Katherine at Mailorder NA for the details!

Just a note the link is NOT yet working and probably won’t work until the dates and times listed above! Remember that this is an NA order NOT a UK order as UK is not shipping to the US this year!

If you have any questions just let me know! I’m happy to help

I’m working my aqua blues today!

What I Used:

Eyes
MAC Moonflower Eyeshadow
MAC Pompous Blue Eyeshadow
Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eyeshadow in Sparkling White
Bare Escentuals Peacock Glimmer
KATE Primer
KATE Gel Mascara

Face
NARS Blush in Angelika

Lips
mark KissInk Lip Marker in Red Siren
Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Sparkling Lip Gloss in Gem

For about two or three years now the UK “surprises” (I use surprise loosely because we know it’s coming before it’s even announced!) Lush lovers far and wide with perfumes.

Each year the lovely Hilary from Lush UK Mail Order ventures onto her soapbox on the UK Forum and asks everyone to vote on a few scents they’d like made into perfumes.

This year like any other year Hilary has again promised the delights of Lush perfume!

This is normally a UK event only and if you want to partake of the bounty of Lush perfume you have to pay a rather obscene amount of money for shipping!

But I’m happy to report that this year Hilary has worked with Lush NA and both UK and NA are having a perfume party!

Here’s what Hilary posted on the UK Forum

Posted:27/11/2007 10:29:13

Woo Hooooo !! Finally, I can give you news about our little ol’ fragrance round ! After begging our overstretched Fragrance Room, they have agreed to do 6 fragrances for us again this year. Everything has been checked out ,scrutinized and costed – and we are able to offer the following:

Candy Fluff 30ml £17.50
Olive Branch 30ml £24.50
Snowcake 30ml £17.25
Black Pearl 30ml £ 19.50
Bathos 30ml £21.25
Lily 30ml £22.50

They will be on sale by telephone only by phoning our Mail Order room. The sale will be: Friday 29th Nov 9am – 9 pm Saturday 30th Nov 9am – 5 pm Once the phone lines are closed, we will add up the orders and will make the stock. We hope to begin despatching it by 12th Dec. No orders will be taken by UK Mail Order for fragrances for delivery to USA or Canada. Instead – US and Canadian residents can order the fragrances directly from NA Mail Order – who will mail your fragrance out to you from them. ( Please refer to the NA Forum for details of the sale, prices and shipping – as this is being organised from there and not the UK, so we will not know the precise details ) There will be an online Party On Friday, whilst the phones are open. Staff from the NA business will be joining us online to take part in the fun and chat. This is a party that is going to span the pond !!! So set aside time in your diary to join us in The Salon section of the International Forum – where there will be chat, competitions, prizes and chaos. Post and Packaging for the UK is FREE. Rest of World – Spend over £150 and post and packaging is half price

P.S If there are any NA forum folk reading this at the moment – there are no ordering details or prices confirmed for you yet. Poor old Stibbsy has been chasing us every day to get the info he needs in order to organise things his end – but we were still trying to confirm our side of things so couldn’t give the info needed. Everything is now ready – but with Vancouver 8 hours behind us – he is probably still in bed ( and having nightmares about having to organise all of his stuff with only about 24 hours to go !! ) So please bear with us – the Stibbsy will be up and at it soon, and all the details you need will be online as soon as he can humanly manage it. He is very keen – so I know he will not be hanging around !!

(Hilary your spelling is bloody awful but I still love you!)

Over the course of the years I’ve been collecting Lush I’ve scored all their perfumes and I will tell you that this is a very, very, very, extremely, very special event that is well worth your cash!

Lush perfumes are potent, strong, lingering and gorgeous!

Snowcake hasn’t been made in a perfume in about 2 years now and many people are falling over themselves to score a bottle!

The list is compiled of three scents that have already been made and three scents that are brand new!

Candy Fluff
Olive Branch
Snowcake
Black Pearl
Bathos
Lily

Candy Fluff and Olive Branch were made for last year’s perfume round while Snowcake was made for the perfume round prior. Black Pearl, Bathos, and Lily (aka Ghost) are brand new and have never been made before! Black Pearl is sure to be a major hit as the much beloved bath bomb is no longer made as of this past year!

This event is happening this Friday from what I understand so as soon as I know further information I’ll post it here!

These will make wonderful gifts for any Lush lover in your life or yourself! I can’t begin to describe how truly wonderful they are!

I’m not partaking of the NA round as I prefer my Lush from the UK so I’m having a friend do my purchasing for me as UK is NOT shipping to the US this year because it’s caused too many problems in the past with bottles breaking, spilling, etc….

If you’re strongly keen on getting these from the UK, like me, I’d suggest stepping onto MUA and asking a fellow Brit if they might purchase them for you and ship them over!

If you live in Europe they may have a chance of ordering from UK just e-mail them prior to Friday asking about whether they’ll ship to your location!

My friends in Asia you may have to see if someone can CP you some so start checking with friends or fellow MUAer’s if you’re interested in scoring these!

Or you can get them from Lush NA by calling mail order on Friday if you’re within the US!

As soon as I know the prices and the details for Lush NA I’ll most definately share!

A big thanks to Hilary for always making the holidays extra special by doing these great things!

Some of my Collection of Perfumes from the Last Few Years

Silky Underwear, Sakura, and a VERY RARE Flower Market Perfume

Potion! One of the Muse’s favorites! (Smells like Holiday aka Ruby Red Slippers Bubble Bar)

A very handsome Simon (this image does nothing for his looks hehe), Mark’s Contantine’s son, on a label of Snowcake!

Snowcake and Candy Fluff Perfume

It’s been a while hasn’t it?

The Muse is being simple again (or boring)!

What I Used:

Eyes
T’estimo Grande Shine Pink Variation
MAC Technakohl Liner

Lips
MAC Mattene in Rougette (Thanks Erika and Bree!)
Morgen Schick Lipshine in Clear

Face
Bourjois Paris Blusher in Rose D’or 34