Two New Drugstore Favourites!

Wow! It seems like forever since I posted last! Summer has been breezing by, and has been jam-packed with visits from family, afternoons down by the water, board game nights, and perhaps a bit of shopping here and there ;) Amidst my bouts of retail therapy, I stumbled across two great new items for amazingly minuscule prices. Always a thrill!

The first is NYC's Eye Shadow Palette in 819 Lexington Luxury. I found it at Wal-Mart for only $3.98, so I couldn't pass it up! It seemed to feature all the right shades for a purply smoky eye, including a glittery lilac shade, a matte charcoal, a matte cream, and a shimmery plum.

NYC's Eye Shadow  Palette in 819 Lexington Luxury. Less than $4!

As you can see, each shade is labelled, based on where it should ideally be applied. The lilac is for all over the lid, the charcoal to contour, the cream to highlight, and the plum to apply to the crease. Here are a couple more close-ups that demonstrate the colours pretty well:

I applied the shades as recommended, and here is the result!

I first applied the lilac shade all over my lid, gently fading it out into the crease. It was a bit more glittery than anticipated, which was my only disappointment. I next applied the plum shade to my crease, blending it into the lilac. Then, I applied the matte cream shade to my brow bone and the inner corners of my eye to highlight. Finally, I finished by applying a small amount of the charcoal shade to the crease and outer corner of my eye, blending it into the plum shade. I was really happy with how blendable and pigmented the shades were. It made for a very pretty look! Here are a couple more closeups:

The second product I discovered is from Hard Candy, a brand I've featured in my blog before. While at Wal-Mart, I was intrigued to see a new display of vibrant candy-coloured lip balms inside Hard Candy's typical silver and black adorned tubes. The shade I chose was Tinted Lip Balm in 411 Vampire Kiss. Although the name reminds me a bit more of Twilight  than I'd prefer, I've been totally impressed with it so far!



Hard Candy Tinted Lip Balm in 411 Vampire Kiss. Less than $3!


Vampire Kiss is a sheer, slightly warm-toned bright pink that is quite moisturizing on the lips. And as a bonus, it smells like vanilla cake! I've been wearing it daily since purchasing it, which is saying a lot given the multitude of lip products in my collection. It the perfect light-weight, vibrant formula to wear during the summer, and for only $2.98, it was very hard to pass up! Here are a couple more close-ups of it:

And here's what it looks like on my lips:

And finally, here's a completed look using both of these new super finds:

As always, thanks so much for reading! :)

The Ultimate in Makeup Cuteness: The Pupa Puppet!

Looking at the adorable picture above, you might think "what does this flowery tweed little monster have to do with makeup?" Indeed, at first sight it appears to be nothing more than a quirky, smiley stuffed animal- which is always alright by me. But... if you tug on her little red feet...

Oh look! Flowery legs! Still wondering what this has to do with makeup? Well, check this out:

Amazing! Housed inside her plush, monster innards is a feminine and versatile makeup palette! Created by the Italian makeup brand Pupa, which can be found at http://www.pupa.it/eng/ , this Pupa Puppet is both adorable and functional. It (she?) was given to me by a kind and generous friend who knew that I couldn't resist something so simultaneously cute and makeup-filled. Thanks Sarah!

The palette contains four eyeshadows, four lip glosses, and a blush, all in earthy shades of pink, peach and brown. Here's a closeup of it:

And here is a closeup of each side of the palette:

I haven't tested out any of the shades yet (I'm almost afraid to because everything is so pretty!), so I can't speak to the specific quality of the makeup. The quality is almost irrelevant, however, because the true joy of this product lies in its quirky, unique, and completely precious packaging. I smile every time I see it! It really provides new meaning to the phrase "playing with makeup". Perhaps a puppet show is in order?

Thanks for reading! :)