Beauty Hacks: Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder

Today I will teach you how to replicate exactly Make Up For Ever's HD Microfinish Powder for under $10. Yes, you read that right.  Less than $10 bucks for something that costs $39 for .3oz at Sephora.

I recently got into makeup when I started winning a few nice makeup items in nail contest.  I wanted to learn how to use the stuff properly so I started experimenting.  I immediately started drowning in the quagmire of quicksand that is makeup products.  Primer, what the heck does that do?  Foundation, does that go on first or do I put it on last?  Is there even a difference between concealer and foundation?  Primer Potion just for my eyes, what, I thought I already had a primer?  You can see where I was confused.  Like Jon Snow, I know nothing.

Well it's been about six months and I think it's safe to say I've become pretty confident with my makeup skills.  I mean, I'm no makeup ninja, but I have figured out a nice routine to make myself look presentable and have a firm grasp of the products I like.  I've managed to spend every cent of my paychecks over that time frame to build a nice cosmetic army.  The one thing I've been missing is a nice finisher.

A finishing powder or setting spray do some of the same things.  After you spend three hours on your makeup the last thing you want is to go out for the night, have an allergy attack and end up rubbing off half of your makeup while trying to protect people from your sneezes.  Finishing powder or setting spray will keep your makeup in place and protect it so you get long lasting wear.  Finishing powder, as an added bonus over setting spray, will also absorb oil and moisture throughout the wear and set into pores and fine lines making them almost invisible.  You can see why there was quite a clamor when they started hitting the market.

I always do my research before buying.  I scanned messaged boards, reviews on Sephora, magazine 'best of' articles and asked my dog her opinion before I settled on Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder as the winner.  Not only did it have some of the best reviews and multiple awards but applying it softens skin for a 'photoshopped' effect, it minimizes imperfections, it is universally translucent and will work on any skin tone, it absorbs oil and moisture, it gives a matte effect for no more shine and it can be worn alone on bare skin or over makeup to keep it in place.  So you can understand why this stuff is $39 for .3 oz at Sephora.

But heres the kicker, Make Up For Ever HD Finishing Powder is 100% finely milled, mineral silica powder.  Silica is a crystal that grows naturally in the earth...you may know it more familiarly as quartz.

All this stuff is is ground up quartz crystals!  This isn't gold dust we're talking about so why is it so expensive?!  You can get this stuff from mining quarries for $80 a ton....A TON....and we are paying almost $40 for less than an ounce!

There are some issues with buying silica powder. Scolicosis has been linked to crystalized silica particles.  That makes it important to make sure you are buying cosmetic grade silica powder NOT crystalized silica particles.

I found exactly that on Coastal Scents! Coastal Scents has a lot of makeup supplies to help you make your own from scratch and they have been carrying silica powder spheres for cosmetics for awhile now.  Usually these go into foundation to help mattify it and absorb oil.  You can buy a 1 oz. container for $4.75.  Compare that to Make Up For Ever's $39 for .3 oz!  Costal Scents also has sifter jars (I bought the 20 gram size $1.08, you could go bigger or smaller).  Add shipping to NY and my total was $9.88.

This pretty package arrived today!

There is the 1 oz. Silica Powder Spheres in a jar, my sifter jar carefully packaged and in a nice black drawstring bag, an extra little pink makeup bag with CS they threw in along with a sample of four of their eyeshadows in a mini palette. Thanks Coastal Scents!  Ps - shipping was super speedy.

The silica powder is extremely finely milled.  Just unscrewing the jar lid sends up a puff of powder.  To be safe I would repot this outside or using a mask.  Yes, this is the safer version of silica but it's never good to breath in fine particles like this regardless of what it is.  The sifter jar comes in three pieces the base, the sifter separator and the lid. 

Now your ready to repot!

Use a small spoon to fill the base of your jar.  And by fill, I mean no more than halfway.  I actually have too much in here in the picture.  When I applied the sifter part there was a little white cloud I was lost in for three days and had to find my way out of.  Added bonus, you will have so much left in your 1 oz. jar you can refill the sifter whenever you're low!  Seriously, this is like a lifetime supply of finishing powder. 

Now you press your sifter separator onto the lip of the jar hard until it clips on.  Lift up the sticker covering the sifter holes and screw on the lid, all done!

Now you're ready to use a fan or finishing brush to apply your finishing powder after your makeup routine.  A little goes a long way so just dip your brush into the jar, tap it on the edge to get rid of excess and lightly brush it over your entire face.

And voila!  I just saved you a ton of money.  This isn't even a dupe for Make Up Forever HD Finishing Powder, it's the exact same thing.  You can send all that excess cash via check to my address.  Just kidding, you guys are polish addicts.  I'm sure you'll have it spend on the new summer polish collections before you can blink twice.  

<3

Born Pretty Store Review

Today I got a cute little package full of nail goodies sent to me for review courtesy of the Born Pretty Store.

The Born Pretty Store is located in China.  They have a huuuuuge variety of nail and beauty accessories that are very affordable.  Granted, coming from China they need 2-3 weeks to get to the states but for the price, I don't mind waiting.

The first product is a stud wheel including different sizes and shapes in gold, silver and bronze.  I always have such a hard time finding nice inexpensive studs so this is awesome!  Serious...at Sallys they had an acrylic stud set like this for $14.  This is just under $5!  All the studs have concave backs to fit the curve of your nail better.  The top coat suctions the stud in place.  I rocked the smaller studs but there are a few larger studs that don't hug the nail as well as the smallers.    

Next up are the 12 Piece Gold 3D Stickers (click the picture to blow it up and see more detail).  These are themed in each set with lots of fun designs.  When I tried to take these off the paper I found they were very brittle and would easily crack apart and break if you didn't pull them off gently.  Another issue I had with these was the gold coloration.  When I applied a top coat over the sticker to seal it in, as per the directions, I got some gold bleeding that streaked down with the top coat.  It isn't very noticeable but it can change the color of the polish underneath.  The stickers also have a slight ridge that can be seen.  

For my mani I used Zoya Blu as the base which I received in my May Ipsy glam bag.  I used the gold stickers on the pointer and ring finger.  I went with all gold studs in small squares and circles and place a large heart on the ringer finger.  

Here is how I got this look!

Overall I don't think I would buy the stickers again.  I prefer hand painted art!  The studs are definitely something I would like to continue purchasing in the future! I absolutely love my hardware.  If there is any kind of nail accessory you can think of that you want for nails the Born Pretty Store has it!  

Use the code DLLW10 on the Born Pretty Store to get 10% off your entire order!

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013

This pretty pink bag showed up on my doorstep today.  You know what that meansssssss.....

Ipsy glam bag time! *Does the Ipsy dance*

Ipsy creates glam bags each month and ships them to your door.  Each month you get a cute makeup bag and five beauty products.  Some products will be full size with a few usually being deluxe samples or mini sizes.  They are only $10 a month and I always get much more than $10 worth of products.

I had a good feeling about this months bag.  Enough that I didn't even look at the sneak peeks of products or anything.  I wanted to feel sheer excitement upon opening my bag and I got exactly that.

I tore my bag open to find a delectable chevron patterned makeup bag and a whole pile of this months products!

I received Juice Beauty Reflective Gloss in Pink, a Yaby Concealer Flawless Refill pan, Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Zodiac (!!!), Zoya nail polish in Blu, Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment for hair and St. Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion.

You may be saying, but Casey why did you get six products?  Ipsy glam bags include five things.  Yes, yes they do.  However Ispy is really great at throwing in extras to their members.  The Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Zodiac was an extra that was given to me to thank me for being an active Ipsy community member.  Here is how you can be qualified for extra products too:

"The lucky recipients are recognized as active participants within the ipsy community. They create Looks on ipsy.com, review our products on YouTube, participate in our Challenges, engage with others on our Facebook page, and are beauty trendsetters whose opinion our community trusts." - Ipsy

Thank you for considering me an active participant Ipsy! <3  Now onto the good stuff.

Juice Beauty Reflective Gloss in Pink: $7.50 half size (.14oz.)

Juice Beauty is an organic brand from California.  They focus on using pure ingredients and are eco friendly!  The full size Reflective Glosses are .28oz and retail for $15 which is big!  The size included is .14oz which I assumed was full size when I saw it.  There is a lot of gloss in the tube already.  

The gloss is not sticky which is nice and extremely glossy.  On top of that there are little shimmers inside!  This gloss is filled with all kinds of real berries, sesame oil and agave extract.    

 Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Zodiac: $20 full size (.05oz.)

I had heard of the Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows but haven't seen them in person before because they were just released about a month ago.  I'm a totally UD Naked junkie.  I have both Naked eye palettes, the Naked Basics palette, the Naked BB Cream and the Naked Skin Foundation.  This eyeshadow shows me how much I need to branch out and try moreeeee of their products.  

This shadow is dazzling.  Zodiac has deep green base with brown accents but, the kicker is the glowing opalescent glitters that are crammed in here.  These glitters are fantastic in that they lay flat!  No heavy fall out with these.  This swatch shows the eyeshadow applied alone on the right and applied with a little bit of water on the left which really packs a punch.  

The picture really doesn't show how amazing these shine so heres a Vine! (I made a rhyme).....and also apologize for being super cheesy.

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment: $13.50 full size (1oz.)

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment is a therapeutic oil for hair.  The oil is weightless and easily absorbed by hair so you won't get any yucky oil-slick head when you use it.  I'm super excited I got this  because I just ran out of my John Frieda Frizz Ease.  I usually just rub it between my palms and smooth the top of my hair to get rid of fly aways.  This oil sounds like it will do just that and more! This smooths and shines while also giving UV protection, extending color treatments and also has a reduced drying time.

Oh and did I mention this stuff smells ah-may-zing? It is strong but wonderful.  I want my hair to smell like it all the time.  This bottle alone is worth more than my $10 Ipsy monthly charge.  What a bang for my buck!

St. Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion: $5 travel size (1.69oz.)

St. Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion is basically a tan in a bottle.  You apply the very dark lotion and smooth it into the skin.  St. Tropez suggests you use your palms, an applicator glove or rubber gloves to apply.  The lotion will immediately tint your skin.  You can almost control the shade by how much you rub it which is fun.  You will stay bronzed until you wash it off with soap and water and then I get to go back to being a pasty white ghost.

The left shows my hand how it normally is (I know it fades into the white background.  Maybe squinting will help you see it) and the right shows where I applied and smoothed in the Instant Glow onto the top of my hand.  I didn't do fingers or my wrist or by my thumb so you could see the contrast.  This lotion is really fun but I do have concerns.  What happens when I'm at a party all bronzed up and my clumsy self pours a drink all down my front?  Will I be left to strip down and give myself a sponge bath in the hosts bathroom so my skin matches only to emerge five shades lighter all while trying to play it off that the power must have surged and changed the house lighting?  Or more applicable, if I wash my hands when using this stuff all over would I end up looking like I stuck my hands in marshmallow fluff?  I'll play around with St. Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion but I'll have to see how it holds up over a nights use.

Yaby Concealer Flawless Refill in Buff: $5 (3.5g.)

Yaby is interesting in that you can pick an empty palette or container and fill it with whatever pans of makeup you'd like on their website.  I got the Yaby Concealer in Buff, one of their lighter colors.  (Sorry for the smushed pan pick I forgot to photograph it before I swatched). 

On the left my hand is normal.  On the right I used the Yaby Concealer to coverup a beauty mark and I did a plain smudge without rubbing it on a little higher on the hand.  It feels very thick which is good for coverups and did a pretty good job of concealing my beauty mark but you can still see it peeking through a bit.  I'm sure if I paired this with a foundation it would be pretty much invisible though.  I'm so excited that this matches my skin tone and I'll definitely be trying it with my normal makeup to see how it stacks up against my Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay Concealer.  

Zoya Blu: $8 full size (.5oz.)

Zoya Blu is BRAND NEW from the spring 2013 Lovely Collection.  I was so psyched when I saw the black Zoya box in my Ipsy bag and even more psyched when I saw it was Blu!

Zoya Blu is simply everything I love about this brand.  The coverage is glossy and opaque in two coats.  The color is a beautiful, pastel baby blue and as a side note I want to marry it and have little blue babies.  Pick up this color immediately.

Added up altogether this bag has a $59 value (not including the chevron makeup bag).  Even if you didn't get the Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow as an extra you would still get a bag worth $39 when you only paid $10.  I always get a great value with my Ipsy bags.  This has got to be one of my favorite months ever!  Want to try Ipsy for yourself?  It is easy to sign up!  Just follow this link and make yourself a member!  You can cancel your subscription at anytime, otherwise you'll get a nice little bag of goodies at your door each month.  

I'm really happy with where Ipsy is going.  Their bags seems to just get better and better.  They now are introducing a perks system when you refer people to join which is always great!  I am also happy to see that they are starting to mix up the products in each months bag instead of the same thing to everyone.  This way users will be more likely to get items that fit their tastes based off their beauty profile.  

Keep up the amazing work Ipsy!  I'm proud to be an Ipster.  

Starbucks Nails!

I recently received my Starbucks gold card in the mail and I had to celebrate with some nail art!

For these nails I painted a hot coffee cup on the pointer, the Starbucks siren on the middle, the gold card symbol on the ring and a frappuccino on the pinky.  

Did you know that now through May 12th from 3-5pm Starbucks is running happy hour!  Half price on all frappuccinos!

I shot these with my gold card on my Vine app!  If you've got it you can follow me under my username DullLikeGlitter.  If not, here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

Lace Wedding Nails Then and Now

It's wedding season! That means wedding nails!

 Last year boyfriends mother got married and I painted a neutral and white lace design on her nails with a Phillies P on the thumb. (They're big baseball fans) Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of the whole mani, but here is the Phillies logo.

 To match my dress I created navy blue nails with white lace accents. Keep in mind this is when I first started nail art and I was not very experienced.

Bleh, talk about needing clean up!

I decided to revisit this theme now that it is wedding season again!  This is also a fun way to see how far I've come in nail art.  

I wanted to keep the blue and lace theme but make it more pastel and light, like something I could see a bride wearing.

I used Essie Bikini So Teeny as the blue base and hand painted the lace design on the ringer finger.  A few people were surprised and actually thought it might be a stamp at first!  I'm so flattered. :)

Here is a close up.  You can see each individual little brush stroke. 

What do you think about these wedding nails?  Would you wear them to your wedding?  Did you have a special mani for your big day?  Let me know in the comments.

Alanna Renne Nail Polish

Today I have two beautiful polishes sent to me for review by Color4Nails.  These are Alanna Rennes in Ablaze and Pacific.  You may not have heard of Alanna Renne before and that's ok, she's an indie maker in Australia!  Previously her polishes were pretty much impossible to get overseas.  However, Color4Nails has started carrying these beautiful polishes making them available to us here in the U.S.

Color4Nails was an extremely successful polish seller on Ebay.  They are currently building their own website here and will be up and running soon. For the time being you can order from Color4Nails by emailing them your inquiry at support@color4nails.com.

Now to the goodies!  I was immediately drawn to Ablaze.  This polish is a fiery orange jelly base full of small yellow and red hexs, black hexs and yellow and red shatter glitters.  There are soooooo much glitters in each bottle.  One coat gave me a lot of volume with all the glitter and then I added a second just to cover up my nail line and I was good to go.  Using the dabbing method to get the glitter coverage even will help with this one.  With Ablaze a glitter tamer top coat is a must!  The shards in this really do make my nails feel like they're on fire.  It is a must see in person.  My favorite part about this polish is how unique it is!  I can't think of a singe polish even remotely similar to this.  Why are all the most amazing indies from Australia ?  There must me something in the water over there.

This macro shows you just how much glitter is packed in here. This was only two thin coats!  This polish makes me want to be Katniss for Halloween just so I can wear this for the occasion.  

Pacific is the next polish!  This is a deep blue jelly base with large blue and holographic turquoise hex glitter, turquoise bar glitter and small silver holographic glitter.  I got a nice coverage with two coats.  It wasn't as densely packed at Ablaze.  If you want more of a deep blue sea look you can use more coats for a more layered jelly sandwich.  With two coats you could still slightly see my nail line.  I liked the glitter scattered like this. It reminded me of a pod of dolphins in the ocean. The formula was beautiful and I got all types of glitter on the brush every time I dipped in.  

I really love the holo glitters in this mix.  They wink at you in the light.  You can check out the macro to show what I mean!

Overall both Alanna Rennes Ablaze and Pacific are gorgeously complex indies.  The formulas are fantastic and the combinations are unique.  Now that these are available in the U.S. from Color4Nails you don't want to miss out on these beauties!  Also make sure you check out some other Alanna Renee polishes.  She has some really unique beauties with some wonderful inspirations.  Black Cherry? Sandpit? Butterbeer?  I want to try more!

Jimmy Choo Inspired Nails

I was at Nordstroms the other day and almost dropped all my bags when I saw the new Jimmy Choo 'Anouk' Degrade pumps.  At $750 I had to pass them by but that doesn't mean I can't steal Choos style!

I created these nails by layering a base of Zoya Purity for a clean white base.  I painted the nails neon yellow with China Glaze Celtic Sun.  After they had dried I got to work on a gradient using Zoya Raven for the black and Celtic Sun for the tips.  To finish off the leather look I used a coat of Butter Londons Matte top coat.

Tada!  Designer look for less.....much less.

Forever Polished

Today I have some gorgeous polishes sent to me for review by Ashley maker of Forever Polished.  First I started off with her holo polishes.

Cherry is a pink sheer base full of holo goodness.  I used three coats to get this rosy pink coverage.  Since it is a sheer you could layer it over other colors or sandwich some nail art between the layers.  The formula was wonderful and the holo was very abundant.

Blue Smoke is a two coater!  It is a dusty navy blue base with just as much holo as Cherry.  This one is limited edition so if you want it jump on it!  You won't regret it.

Bliss is a shimmery purple base with small pink glitters and pink squares.  The formula was a bit streaky on this one.  There are some areas that you can see through.  Maybe if I tried a few more coats after the three I put on it would help beef it up.

Rocker Girl is a glitter topper full of large and medium grey hex glitters, large pink hexs and small grey, blue and pink glitters.  I love the combination!  It feels very edgy and the color pops are very bright.  On the ring finger I used the glitter on its own in one coat.  It was so full of glitter I didn't need any more than that!  On the remaining three fingers I played around with glitter placement to make a fun design.  

I saved my favorite for last!  This is Rain Clouds.  Rain Clouds is an absolutely beautiful violet base full of holographic glitter and shimmer.  It catches the light beautifully.  When exposed to warm temperatures the purple base changes from deep purple to a sheer light blue!  This polish is really eye catching with the glitters and even more fun with the color changing.  

Overall I really enjoyed these polishes and you can't go wrong trying them out!  My favorite was Rain Clouds, it is just so well made!  As a topper I loved Rocker Girl and as full polishes Cherry and Blue Smoke are both killer.  The only polish I wasn't 100% feeling was Bliss because the base was a little patchy.  

Forever Polished is a great store and not only that but she has some other super cute beauty essentials like soaps and bath bombs!  She surprised me with three lilac hand soaps myself.  Check these little guys out in Chill Pill.  There are a few different colors you can choose from in the store coming in scents like spring rain and bubblegum.  These smell heavenly!

They have an adorable mold! You can't see the but bottom of the pills say 200mg.

Very tiny and perfect for a bathroom sink.  Check out Forever Polished and see what other fun items you can find.

May Julep Maven 2013

My May Julep Maven box got here so fast!  I was super psyched when I heard that this months box would be a vintage roaring 20's inspired box.  I love love love looooove vintage.  This month I switched my style to Boho Glam because I was really feeling the polish colors and lip shades.

Can we take a moment to look at the gorgeous pattern on the tissue paper wrapping this months box?  I love the design.

This months has a lot of deep and vintage colors to tie into the theme.

Inside are two cards, the first overviewing the Boho Glam box and the second is this months quote, "Life is a lot like jazz -- it's best when you improvise." George Gershiwn. 

This months extra are two add on hair pins with rosettes.  Super cute.

My colors this month are Alice, an antique lilac shimmer and Millie, a vintage indigo creme.  

Alice is beautiful!  It only took two coats to get full coverage.  The purple is dainty and bright.  The shimmer is the slightest bit streaky but it is so reflective it is hard to catch any inconsistencies.  I'm so glad I switched to Boho Glam this month.

Millie is a gorgeous, glossy indigo.  This was also only two coats.  This had a bit of a funky smell.  It almost smelled like decaying plants meets skunk....if anyone else also got this color please let me know if you found it had a weird smell to or if I am just going insane.  Regardless, this color is a beauty.  Not a thing wrong with it.

I was so excited when Julep announced they would be doing lip colors this month that I added all the shades as extras (they're not all here yet).  In my box I got this cute little box of silky little lip colors, the New York Jazz Trio.  

They come in a beautiful art deco matchbox like container that slides revealing the colors inside. 

Tea for Two is a nude shimmer sheer, Satin Doll is a poppy sheer and Lady in Red is matte crimson lipstick.  These are actually mini lipsticks (like deluxe sample size), not full size.  

Tea for Two is a sheer which ends up being more of a chap stick consistency.  It has a waxy feel that is pigmented with the nude and slight shimmer that is a little hard to pick up.  I was looking forward to more of a lipstick type of deal with these so I was slightly disappointed but at the same time this is fun!  I could definitely wear this in a daily setting and how adorable would it be to apply this sheer in the beautiful gold tined applicators as opposed to a chap stick tube?

Satin Doll is very bright in the tube but sheer like Tea for Two.  On the lip it is more subtle.  It has the same consistency as Tea for Two so it would be great for everyday use.  This reminds me of my Sugar Lip tube from Sephora!  Great quality and it left my lips feeling very nice.  

Lady in Red is very, very deep red.  Wow!  It's quite a shocker.  This is not waxy, it is a very creamy and pigmented.  Unlike the other two this shade is totally opaque.  I LOVE this color.  I'm going to need to put together some sultry night makeup looks so I can wear this when I go out.

Overall I'm in love with this months box.  The polish colors are beautiful and impressed me very much. I love the add on hair pins.  I was expecting more lipstick-y lipsticks in the trio but even though Satin Doll and Tea for Two are waxy I can see myself using them daily.  Lady in Red is exactly what I was expecting from Julep.

Did you get a Julep box this month?  What style did you get?  How did you feel about your polish and lippies?