MAC PEACOCKY COLLECTION IS NOW UP!

The MAC Peacocky Collection is up! This collection has 15 gorgeous mega metal eyeshadows. The eyeshadows are bigger (.11 oz) then the regular MAC eyeshadows (.05 oz) and cost more too, at $19.50 vs $14.50 for a regular eyeshadow. However, the pigmentation and color selection is gorgeous. I think these are WELL worth the price just based on the swatches and reviews from Temptalia

The collection also has 12 new lip glosses called Kissables. From what I am hearing there apply more like lipsticks than lip glosses. I am not crazy about these, but I am not a lip gloss/stick kinda gal. These Kissables are $18.50 each

USE CODE PEACOCKY for FREE SHIPPING

I LOVE THIS COLLECTION and totally excited about. I bought five shades from this collection.
The colors I got are:

 Dalliance

 Noir plum

 Paparazz-she

 Prance

Unflappable

CHECK OUT ALL THE SWATCHES HERE:
Temptalia's review and swatches of Peacocky
Karla Surgar's review and swatches of Peacocky

HAPPY SHOPPING LADIES AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING OR PLAN ON GETTING!

I CAN NOT WAIT FOR MY SHADOWS TO GET HERE!

*Pictures taken from karlasuger.com and temptaila.com

THREE FREE NAIL POLISHES AT ZOYA.COM!

YUP! Get 3 free nail polishes at zoya.com and just pay shipping! Use coupon code FB2011 till January 7, 2011

This is an amazing deal, you get $21 worth of nail polish for FREE and Zoya is one of the best brands out there for nail polish. Hop on this deal ASAP!!

Here are the colors I got:

Kelly

Shawn

Edyta

I have been wanting to try these colors out for a while and I am so happy I get to try buy them for FREE! This so made my day :)

Happy shopping ladies and don't let this sale pass you by! Let me know what you got!

Just a ANOTHER day LOTD

This was just a neutral smokey eye I did. My camera was not on macro, so don't have any real close eye pictures. CC and comments are always welcome.

One RANT-Ilamasqua Metal Palette one RAVE-Stila Color Wheel

RANT

I got a GC to Sephoria for Christmas and I wanted to do a really silver metalic look for New Year's Eve, So I pick up the Illamasqua Metal Palette for $42. The colors are gorgeous, but they creased on me with 20 min of wearing it  (and yes I was wearing UDPP)

The palette:



Here is the look I did, this pic was taken about 20 min after doing my makeup




See the creasing already..after that I youtubed how I could fix it and one girl suggested I set it with translucent powder, so I set it with my MUFE HD powder and went to my dinner. The dinner was about three hours and when I came home, my eyeshadow was completely faded and pretty much none existent. I forgot to take a pic off it because I was so aggravated about the fact that a $42 palette would still crease and fade even after setting powder and primer, that I just washed it all off as soon as I got home

RAVE

So it was hard, but I returned the metal palette. I really wanted to love it, but I could not keep a $42 palette that creased on me. I ended up exchanging it for the Stila Color Wheel for $25!! Which was an amazing deal! You get 36 colors and each color is beautiful, vibrant and pigmented. I love the sleekness of the palette and the design. I like how it the colors go from lighter to darker, it is like it automatically sets up a look for you if you don't know what to wear that day.
It also comes with a bonus book of 15 different looks that you can put together with the palette! I love that and cannot wait to try them!

Here's the palette


Some swatches:



AND a pic from the color book that comes with it



AND it is still available at Sephoria for $25, hurry up and buy it already..LOL
Here is the link: Stila Color Wheel at Sephoria

I feel FREE and I challenge you to do the same

Happy New Year Everyone!! 2010 was just not my year and I hope 2011 has some better things in store for me.
Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in a while and I decided to be FREE and go without make-up. I know this may sound odd to some of you, but I am self conscious about my skin due to the acne scars on my face, that when I go to the gym I usually apply some foundation and a hint of blush.

This was a big step for me, it felt so good to go outside without makeup AND no one stared at me, made comments or funny faces..LOL Sometimes I think that will happen if I go out without a little makeup because I got made fun of quite a bit as teenager for my acne. It may sound silly after all these years, but in the back of my head, that is what I think.

I challenge you to all do the same thing and post a picture on your blog, with the title: I'm FREE!

I think it will be empowering to see us all up with the confidence to post a picture of ourselves in our naked face.

So to start of 2011 on positive note, I dare you to be free and confident!

Post a picture and be free with me! It is such an amazing feeling and I will continue to wear no makeup, every time I go to the gym and maybe even more

What do you think about this challenge? If you decide to do it post a link in the comment section and I will create a section on my blog, with a link to your blog post, so everyone can see our naked faces and it can empower more people to give it a try and be free like us! It will help to remind us that we are all beautiful, with or without makeup




For some inspiration, there is a post on MUG to get you going>>>HERE<<<<<

A few LOTD..I've missed this AND a Crown brush SALE on HAUTELOOK!

This look I did for Christmas. It is nothing special since I worked a double that day, but I still wanted to look nice when I went to my Uncle's for a few hours before work.

Face:

MUFE HD 125

Mac Select cover-up in NC 20 

Cheeks:

Rockin Republic Foreplay
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
Soft and Gentle MSF

Eyes:

Lid, highlight and inner corner- Nylon
Crease- Soft Brow, Cork
Outer V- Espresso, and Brun
Mascera- Dior Show
Eyeliner- BTFL
Lips:

Pro Longwear Lipcreme- Till Tomorrow 

This next look I did was to vist my best friend on Monday. I am so loving the French Quarter shade stick from the VV collection..it is the perfect base for a smokey eye.
These pics are right before I left for her house. I was wrapped up in my coat and scarf because it  snowed the night before..see..it was our first snow




Now on to the look!









This was at my friends house





I'm with her son..he is to cute!

Face:

MUFE HD 125

Mac Select cover-up in NC 20 

Cheeks:

Rockin Republic Foreplay
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
Soft and Gentle MSF

Eyes:

Base-French Quarter Shade Stick
Lid and Crease- Gun Metal from the UD Naked Palette
Highlight- Virgin from the UD Naked Palette
Mascera- Dior Show
Eyeliner- BTFL
Lips:

Brave New Bronze

BTW HAUTELOOK is having a sale on crown brushes!! This brushes are amazing for the price..I am personally going to get on of the sets..I am not sure which one yet..I am so excited!!

Sign up and check out the sale>>>>>>> HERE <<<<<<

OKAY, OKAY...I'M BACK!

SOOO I'm back!! YAY!! I missed everyone very much! I had a super long and stressful semester that allowed me to focus on nothing else but school and I just want to put that semester behind me and move forward from that.

So with that said....I have some new LOTDs that I will posting up tomorrow and I still have a contest to post as well, which I hope to post by the end of the week.

I got an awesome Nikon coolpix 12 megapixel camera for Christmas and I cannot wait to start taking pics of swatches and LOTD.

I have so much to share with you all..I hope you have not strayed too far from me :)

I want to thank everyone who PM me on makeupgeek.com and those we contacted me on my blog as well. It made me so happy to know that I was missed. I  hope everyone had a great christmas and I look forward to keeping in contact with everyone.

Tomorrow is a new day with a new LOTD..hope your ready for it!! LOL..I also can't wait to look at everyones else's blog and stat commenting..I miss that too.

I got a NEW hair Dryer! Jilbere Tourmaline Anti Static Ionic Dryer

So my Solia 1875 W died on me after two and half years of us. The motor died and just stopped blowing out hot air :( I was so upset and with all the hair dryers out, I had no idea which one to buy, so I asked my MUG friends which ones they recommend, and one of the girls recommend the Jilbere Tourmaline Anti Static Ionic Dryer at Sally's Beauty Supply website. I checked it out and fell in love with it

It is such a pretty hair dryer. I love the candy apple red color and it has this rubberized feel to the dryer so it doesn't slip and slide all over your dresser. It also has a 9 foot long cord! This was important to me because my outlet is pretty far from my mirror. It has a high, low, cold and turbo button. The  ceramic ionic technology creates negative ions to dry hair while eliminating static and frizz. It also has 2000 watts of power. These two features were important to me because my hair is naturally thick and straight, and it can get frizzy and take forever to dry. Also it feels much lighter in comparison to my Solia, which is nice too!
However, it is not quieter. I would have liked a quieter blow dryer, but ehhh, no biggie, I am use to a loud hair dryer regardless.
It cost $59.99 or $53.99 with your Sally's card. I paid $40 for it because I had a 25% off coupon!!  Sally's always has some type of coupon going on..so no worries if you missed out on this one

SO HERE IT IS!!









AHH...nice long cord!!


Out of the box..such a pretty color, I never liked my hair dryer for its color before..lol


The Controls


The concentrated nozzle. I love how narrow it is, I use this extra feature when I curl my hair under with a round brush


AND my hair after I used it! I really like how it dried my hair!! It took maybe 10 min to dry my hair fully..I was impressed!!!! It took a tad longer with my Solia

Overall

I am very impressed with this hair dryer. It has amazing reviews on Sallybeauty.com and I can now see why. I am very happy with this hair dryer and the price. It is hard to decipher which hair dryer is worth the money, but for $40 with these features and results, I think it worth it!!

GEL to POWDER NAIL SCAM- BEWARE

This story happend to a fellow MUG, AmethystBeautyVA and she shared her story with us all here about a trip she took to treat herself to a salon to get gel nails. She got scammed on something that no one has really ever thought about. Here is her story:

Ok...as a treat to myself on my 1/2 Birthday today, I decided to go to a highly-raved salon to get gel overlays.


What I received makes me wonder if I was scammed and I'm reaching out to fellow MUGs for advice & opinions.

The salon owner did my nails and this is what she did and/or had me do:

1. Trimmed my nails to my desired length.

2. Used a coarse nail file to rough-up the nail beds.

3. Grabbed one of many identical brushes from a holder which was attached to her swing lamp.

4. Placed the brush into a small bowl of clear liquid to soak for a few moments.

5. Applied an odorless product from a brown glass bottle using the attached wand ala nail polish application. This product dried to a very matte finish.

6. Grabbed a small container of a very finely-milled white powder.

7. Repeatedly dipped the "soaked" brush into the powder and applied the mixture to my nails. When one hand was done, she had me hold it very close to the lightbulb of her swing lamp while she did my other hand.

8. Used a rotary file to smooth things out and taper the edges.

9. She did French tips using regular white nail polish and then she had me hold my hands near the lightbulb again for a few minutes.

10. She then applied a "Mirror Glaze UV Topcoat" and had me do a total of 6 minutes under a UV lamp.

When I asked her about the powder-to-gel she stated that it lasts longer than the liquid gel which requires several layers. She also told me that it would last 3-4 weeks.

I've had two people tell me that I received a set of "glorified" acrylic nails disguised as gel nails. After watching a few videos on YouTube, I'm beginning to agree with them! ALL the vids that I've watched CLEARLY show a clear gel substance being applied to the nail in thin layers with "cooking" time under the UV lamp between layers.

I'm irked that I was scammed and seriously considering disputing the charge ($41!) to my credit card.

So...my questions are:
1. Does it sound like I was scammed? Gel nails ($40 + $1 French) vs. Acrylic ($20 + $1 French).

2. Should I dispute the charge with my credit card company?

I didn't leave a tip because she had stepped away while my nails were doing the 6-minute-UV-bake thing and came back REEKING of cigarette smoke.

There were many relpies that stated, yes, it defiantly sounds like you were scammed, and some stated that this was on one of biggest nail salon scams going on. She then went on to give us this update.

It. Was. EPIC!


So, I stopped by the salon on my way home from the office this evening...owner was very surprised to see me back so soon. There were approx. 6 ladies waiting to be seen and 4 ladies already receiving services.

She asked if I was there to have some nail-art (we had briefly discussed nail art while she did my nails yesterday) and I calmly replied "No, I'm here to request a full refund because I asked for gel nails and what you gave me was standard acrylic nails with a UV gel topcoat which certainly isn't worth $20 when the bottle sells for $8.00 at the beauty supply store."

She replied that she's been doing powder-to-gel nails for 10 years and she "NEVER" gives a refund...EVER!

I then went on to say "There is absolutely no such thing as powder-to-gel nails but there IS such a thing as acrylics with a UV gel topcoat being passed off as gel nails and it happens to be the #1 nail salon scam in the country! Last night I contacted several friends in other states who have gel nails (my fellow MUGS, of course!) and I even went to YouTube & Google to do a search for "gel nails" and "gel nail scams" and EVERY video or article about the gel nail scam was IDENTICAL to what you did to my nails yesterday. Today I contacted two cosmetology schools and they confirmed that there is no such thing as powder-to-gel nails. The directors at each school advised me to contact Virginia's licensing board for more information about filing a complaint and that's what I did this afternoon. You committed fraud by telling me that I was getting gel nails and that's why I'm asking for a full refund."

O.M.G. I thought she was going to have a seizure right then and there!

She vehemently stated again that she doesn't offer refunds and that I don't know what I'm talking about! At this point, one of her techs came running over with a jar that had a home-made computer label that said "Gel Powder" and the tech kept saying "See...gel powder! Gel powder! You wrong! We right!"

I sighed and said, "Ok. When I called Virginia's licensing board I was given directions on how to download this complaint form (at this point I took the form out of my purse and held it up which clearly showed that I had already filled in the salon name, address, etc.) and submit it for an investigation. You've stated twice that you don't give refunds, so I have absolutely no choice but to file a dispute with my credit card company (which I had already done, btw) and submit this complaint form to the licensing board. I also have absolutely no qualms about contacting each of the three local TV stations because I have a very good working relationship with several of the reporters and newsroom directors at each station, so I have no doubt that one of the stations would be interested in doing an "investigative report" regarding this little scam you're pulling on unsuspecting clients."

She stood up.

She sat down.

We stared at each other in a stalemate for a few moments.

She then told me she'd give me a refund after she removed my "gel acrylics" and to have a seat and wait in line. I told her that my time was just as valuable as hers and given that I had already spent over an hour in her salon yesterday, I preferred to sit at an empty station and soak my nails while her staff continued to take care of the other ladies who were already waiting. (One of my local friends recommended that I stick to my guns on this aspect since all they'd be doing is having me sit at an empty station anyhow with my hands in a bowl of heated acetone.)

She stood up and looked at me as if I had two heads. I smiled at back at her and said "I think I've given a fair solution that will satisfy both of us AND allow you to take care of these ladies at the same time. It's called multi-tasking."

She sighed, said a bunch of stuff very quickly in Korean and pointed to an empty station.

I said "Great! But first, let's process my full refund so that when one of your techs has finished removing these nails, I can leave straight away and we won't ever have to speak to each other again."

She processed my refund right then and there, all the while saying a lot of stuff very quickly in Korean (I'm certain she cussed me out during all that talking).

She took a cigarette break and while she was outside, one of the ladies who had been waiting asked me if what I had said was all true. I said, "Absolutely! If you have internet access on your cellphone you can google it and find out for yourself."

In the mirror I could see her typing on her iPhone and a few minutes later she and her friend crossed their names off the list and left.

It took almost 40 minutes, but I have my nekkid nails again and I've slathered my hands in olive oil. Typing with gloves on at the moment is lots o' fun, btw!

Yes, I'm still going to file a complaint with the state because if I don't, this salon will continue to scam people.

Wow..I am so glad she stuck to her guns! I wanted to share this story with everyone because I would hate for this happend to anyone! Not very many people know what actual gel nails look like nor are that educated in the nail salon world. If a nail tech tells me me...oh..it's gel a to powder manicure..I most likely wouldn't think twice about and end up paying twice as much for it!

REMEMBER..GEL IS NEVER POWDER!!

Here are some more websites that cover this scam and give more detail into what a UV gel nail should be:

Not what I asked for
UV Gel Nails
Do you wonder what liquid and powder gels are?


Also, if you feel you have ever been scammed or ripped off by a company, you can report them to:

Ripoff.com
Better Business Bureau

If you have a similar story or know more info on this...please share :)