American Dream by NARS

First things first, I love neutral colors and I love palettes. So it was pretty easy for me to decide to buy the new American Dream palette from NARS.

The American Dream Palette contains six eyeshadows and I am pretty sure that you can find all the colors in the permanent line. Some colors are part of duos and others are single eyeshadows. It contains six colors and they are all neutrals and perfect for fall.
This palette is also great if you are new to NARS, like me, and you are interested to try some of their eyeshadows. If you have a collection of NARS already you might want to take a look at your collection to prevent you from buying duplicates.

I only own one single eyeshadow from NARS and that is Lola Lola. This is one of my favorite eyeshadows in my collection so I had high hopes for the American Dream Palette.

I haven't used this palette on my eyes yet but I have made a rather pitiful attempt at photographing swatches of the colors. So far I think they are pigmented especially the shadows on the bottom row. Two shadows seems a little bit grainy and chalky and was harder to swatch and it was the lightest Bellissima (I) and the rose colored Silk Road(II). The others were easy to swatch and Galapagos seems to be the most pigmented.

So far I think that Alahambra (II), Galapagos and Tzarine (II) are going to be my favorites but this might change when I start to use them on my eyes. 

Here is my attempt a photographing swatches. I used Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Eyeshadow Insurance in Eden as a base.

I will try to make some makeup looks using the palette but I have to get rid of my cold first. Because right now I am not feeling my best and my eyes has that watery look that you get when you are sick.


 

New Skincare

I have decided that it is time that I start to use a proper skincare routine. I have always just use bits and pieces from everywhere and I haven't really cared much about a proper regime. I still love the products that I have tried from Garden Of Wisdom but I thought I would try products from different brands and try to find products that will work wonders on my skin.

A lot of skincare brands offer kits and travels sets, and I think this is the perfect way to try a new skincare brand. You receive small sizes of products so you don't have to invest in a large sized product and then realize that it does nothing for your skin or even worse it might end up causing things that you weren't expecting like a breakout or two.

The first brand that I decided to try is Decléor, a French skincare line that focuses on the use of essential oils and aromatherapy in their products

I bought this set from HQHair for £39.00 and I  received a gift with purchase when I bought my kit so I manage to double up on some products.

In this kit I received the following products:

AROMA CLEANSE Foaming Cleanser

HYDRA FLORAL Anti-Pollution "Flower Nectar" Moisturising Cream

AROMA NIGHT Neroli Essential Night Balm

AROMESSENCE NEROLI Essential Serum

AROMA CONFORT Moisturising Body Milk

AROMA CLEANSE Toning Shower And Bath Gel

AROMESSENCE SLIM EFFECT Draining Contouring Serum

ARÔME TONIC Tonifying Body Treatment Fragrance

The first kit contains a lot of products to try and my first impression is good. I haven't tried everything yet but the things that I have tried so far I like. But there is one thing that I'm on the fence about and it is the scent of some of the products. I should have guessed that some of the products should be heavily scented since they are aromatherapy products but I somehow didn't grasp this when I bought this kit.

I have an issue with the Neroli Essential Serum and the Neroli Night Balm. They have a strong scent that I just don't care for. I really like the effects of the night balm because it is very good at moisturizing my skin but I'm bothered by the scent, it isn't something that I like to feel when I go to bed. It might just be that I don't like the scent of neroli. The rest of the products have a very soft and nice scent to them and the shower gel has a more invigorating unisex scent that I like very much.

In the gift with purchase I received:

AROMESSENCE SLIM EFFECT Draining Contouring Serum

AROMESSENCE SOLAIRE Tan Activator Serum

AROMESSENCE NEROLI Essential Serum

AROMA CONFORT Moisturising Body Milk

HYDRA FLORAL Anti-Pollution "Flower Nectar" Moisturising Cream

AROMA NIGHT Neroli Essential Night Balm





So I received several duplicates in this kit except for the Tan Activator Serum. I was really excited about this serum because I was thinking of buying it in full size but I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend that much on a face product without trying it first so I didn't buy it so it is nice to be able try it.

 I will do more in depth review of the the products because I already have some things that I would like to say about some of the products. So posts about some of the products will pop up in a few weeks when I have had a chance to try them some more.

New Stuff from Las Vegas

A while back ago I went on vacation to Las Vegas. It was my first time in Vegas and I loved it. I flew in a helicopter to the Grand Canyon, toured the Hoover Dam and just had lots of fun. I also managed do a little bit of shopping. If you like to shop I have to say that Las Vegas is definitely the place for you. You can buy anything from luxury designers and brands to drugstore brands, all of it gathered along The Strip.

So here's my little result of my shopping in Vegas. I tried to focus on brands that I can't buy here in Sweden and on things that I heard a lot of good things about.

First I went to Sephora and I picked up:

Two lip products from Buxom, The Big & Healthy Lip Cream in White Russian and Big & Healthy Lip Stick in London. Both of these are nice neutral pink tones and they definitely have that sting that lip plumpers have.

LipSurgence Natural Lip Stain in Amused from Tarte. This is a hot pink lip stain and this is actually a lot darker that I thought when I swatched it in the store.

I also picked up a Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Exposed also from Tarte. This is a very nice neautral pink color and it has had very good reviews by beauty gurus on YouTube. I like it because it gives the cheeks a nice pinkish flush without being to pink.

A Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment from Fresh. This has a slight tint to it and a lovely citrus scent. I have used this a couple of times and I like it but it is nothing super special.

The last thing was actually a gift from my traveling companion and it was a set of Trend Tips from O.P.I. These are called Real Lacquer Strips and the ones that I received were very cute pink camouflage ones. I can't wait to use these but I'll have to wait until my summer vacation since they wouldn't last 10 seconds on my job.

I also went to Walgreens and picked up some drugstore makeup:

I picked up a new Full 'n Soft Mascara from Maybelline in Very Black. I have tried this before and I liked it so I thought a would give it a go again.

Neutrogena SkinClearing Blemish Concealer in 09 Buff. I used this on my vacation to cover spots and I think it worked very well. For now it is a little bit too light but I think it will work great in the winter.

Two Revlon Lip Butters in Strawberry Shortcake and Cupcake two nice cool toned pink colors.

Revlon ColorStay LipLiner in Rose. This is a nice neutral lipliner that I think will work well with most lipcolors.

And the last thing that I bought was an Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles in 60 Brightener from Maybelline. I have tried the foundation from this line and like it so I thought I would try the concealer as well. Strangely the foundation can be bought here in Sweden but the other products from this line can't.

This is it when it comes to my little shopping confession. I will get back to you with pictures and review of the products when I have had a chance to wear them a bit. 

On me today: Leopards and Dreamcatchers

So I started a new category on my blog. I thought it would be nice to show you something more than just makeup and beauty, so I thought I would write a little bit about clothes and accessories and so on. Makeup and beauty isn't my only interest, I also like clothes and fashion. But if you saw me in real life you probably wouldn't guess it. I dress quite boringly on a daily basis. I don't wear my normal clothes at work so normally I don't care that much. When at work I change to my work attire and nobody will notice what I wore to work at 5:30 in the morning.

But sometimes I like to make some sort of an effort and today was such a day and here are two things that I love right now and wore today, leopard prints and this dream catcher necklace.

Top and tank top: GAP
Necklace: Urban Outfitters
Scarf: Zara

I bought the necklace at Urban Outfitters this summer when I was in London. I loved the detail with the feathers and I thought that this would go perfect with a simple white top and maybe a scarf.

I don't like wearing this necklace on its own since the chain is quite long but I think it works perfectly with a scarf around the neck. I picked up the scarf in the sales at Zara. I have been eying it for sometime but I felt it was a little bit too expensive. So I became very happy indeed when I found it on sale. I just love the leopard print and the light fabric.

Happy New Year!

Well maybe I am a little bit late in wishing you a happy new year, it is already January 3rd. Time flies when you are busy, I guess.

I took a little bit of a break from blogging (again) starting at the end October. I haven't been inspired lately and I haven't been able to sit down and write a post. I think this might be because I want something more when it comes to this blog. The problem is I don't know what I want this blog to be.
So I have taken a little bit of a break and I will be back soon and hopefully I know what to do with this blog.

So I hope that you will have a great 2012 and that you are happy and well.

See you all very soon.