Reblog: Makeup Diary's Huge "Just Because" Thank You Giveaway!

Makeup Diary's Huge "Just Because" Thank You Giveaway! Three winners!

Posted by JC ♔ on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. Filed under: Giveaway, Thank You
Hello ladies!  If you've been following me on Twitter, you would know that I have been putting together a giveaway for a few weeks now.  I wanted to try and incorporate different brands this time from the items that were in my last giveaway to keep things fresh, but I also wanted to keep the products interesting for you all.

I spent many days trying to decide at what follower count or special event to introduce this...  but to be honest, I've been lingering around the 1300 follower for a few days now and it seems like such an odd number to celebrate (I know, I know) and I didn't want to wait any longer since I'm actually planning to do another giveaway next month for my birthday.  Plus, aren't "just because" gifts the best?  To make this extra special, I decided to have three winners for this one.

** As always, this giveaway IS open internationally so everyone is welcome (and encouraged) to enter! **

Just some other photos to entice you. ;)

Click to enlarge.

I included non-sale prices to give you an idea of the items' value.

I put "$200 value" on my image, but clearly it is way more.

Gotta' love sales and promos!

ALL items are BNIB and have never been opened/used.

First Prize:

As you can see, the first prize winner will receive THREE full sized palettes:

1)  Urban Decay 15th Anniversary e/s palette ($55)

2)  The Balm "Shady Lady" (vol 2) e/s palette ($39.50)

3)  The Balm Balmbini face palette (blushes, e/s, etc) ($28)

4)  Urban Decay e/s Transforming Potion ($18)

5)  Urban Decay Matte e/s in "Jones" ($17)

6)  Urban Decay Matte e/s in "Chronic" ($17)

The First Prize winner will also receive these adorable Sephora:

7)  Hello Kitty Notebook ($14) 

8)  matching Hello Kitty Cosmetics Pouch ($28)

9)  Milani LE "Paint" e/s palette ($8)

10)  Rosebud Salve ($6)

11)  Three BB Cream deluxe samples

12)  Make Up For Ever graphics cosmetics pouch ($35), which includes:

a)  Lab Shine Lipgloss

b)  HD Powder

c)  Smoky Lash Mascara

d)  Aqua eyes eyeliner

13)  Benefit "Little Look Goods" Very Important Beauty Insider exclusive:

a)  Dandelion in a full size ($28)
b)  "That Gal" Brightening Face Primer 0.25 oz
c)  BADgal Lash Mascara in a deluxe sample size

14)  Benefit "One Prime Day" Sephora exclusive ($10) :
 a)  0.25 oz Mini That Gal
b)  0.25 oz Mini Porefessional
c)  0.9 oz Mini Stay Don't Stray

15)  Benefit "Feeling Cheeky" Sephora exclusive ($15):
a)  0.13 oz Posietint (poppy pink)
b)  0.13 oz High Beam (shimmering pale pink)
c)  0.13 oz Benetint (rose)

16)  $25 MAC Gift Card*

Second Prize:

$50 MAC Gift Card*

Third Prize:

$25 MAC Gift Card*

(* Regarding Gift Cards:  I am willing to substitute for a Sephora or other beauty related store gift card.  For international winners, I am also willing to purchase the items you want up to the above amounts and mail those out to you if that will give you the best value.  I will NOT PayPal/mail funds to you under any circumstance.)

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How to qualify and enter:

** Follow my blog publicly via GFC (required to enter) **
** You must be 18+ OR have parental consent to enter **

- Follow my Twitter +3 entries

- Post my giveaway on your blog +2 entries

- Post my giveaway on your Twitter +2 entries

- Post my giveaway on your blog's sidebar +3 entries

For BONUS entries, please fill out the last three questions in my form below.  Thank you!

 

Any of my followers should try to enter as well, it's the last day to! 

Look of the Day w/Sugarpill! Also a Smashbox dupe!

Eyes:    
Lid & Crease -
    Sugarpill Palette "Burning Heart"

•     Shadow "ButterCupcake"
•     Shadow "Poison Plum"

    Sugarpill Palette "SweetHeart"

•     Shadow "Midori"

    Urban Decay Naked Palette:

• Shadows "Creep" & "Gunmetal"

Highlight-

• Inglot Shadow Matte-354, BareEscentuals bareMinerals glimmer in "Seashell"

Liner-

• Physicians Formula - Shimmer Strips Gel Creamliner 

Lashes-

• L' Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black 

Brows-

• Milani Brow Fix Brow Kit in "01 Light"
• Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara as a brow gel.

Face:
Concealer:

•  Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer in "Light"

Foundation:

• L'Oreal Bare Naturale Foundation powder in "Light Ivory 458"

Cheeks:

• NYX Mosaic Powder in "06 Rosey"

Contour: 

• Elizabeth Arden cheekcolor in "SunBlush"

Highlight: 

• Maybelline Mineral Power Illuminator in "nude"
• No7 HighLights Illuminating Lotion 

Lips:

• Wet n Wild MegaLast Lip Color in "900B Pink Suga"

• N.Y.C. Liquid Lip Shine in "555 Iced Orchid"

"Buttercupcake" layered over "Midori" with "Poison Plum" in the crease to start. 
I blended "Poison Plum" into the upper crease closer to my brow bone with a clean makeup brush! 
Then I added Urban Decay's "Gunmetal" in the crease, blend once more with a clean makeup brush. 
I wanted more depth, so I decided that I'd add a little "Creep" into the mix. 
Highlighted my browbone with the Inglot 354 matte shadow, and added a little "Seashell" for shimmer just at my brow's arch! 

Dupe time :D
The other day my wonderful mother passed on to me a Smashbox lip gloss because the color just wasn't striking her fancy for her usual day to day look. Of course I said yes I'll be happy to try it for myself! As I was putting it away in my purse, I realized it matched my gloss already placed in my makeup bag!  

N.Y.C's Liquid Lip Shine in "555 Iced Orchid" is on the left & Smashbox's Lip Ehancing Gloss - True Color in "Fame" is on the right! The slight difference would be in the faint gold shimmer of the N.Y.C gloss. The Smashbox "Fame" appears to have shimmer in the tube, but really transfers onto the lips in more of a cream finish. However, it's still a pretty good dupe! Instead of handing over $18 for one gloss you can shell out $2.25-2.50 for the N.Y.C. brand & still look just as good :)

Review & Look: Elizabeth Arden Red Door Beauty Box Palette.

My uncle got me the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Beauty Box for my birthday back in February.  I searched for information about the box via the interweb, but found close to nothing.  I haven’t really come across many swatch photos, reviews, or tutorials relating to the Elizabeth Arden palette or any of the other items in the box. So incase any other ladies received the “Beauty Box” or purchased it to use, I’ll try to be as extensive as possible with swatches, reviews, example looks etc …over the next few weeks. :) For those who don’t need such an extensive review you can skip straight to the end to read a paraphrase over my personal pros and cons about the product ^.^

The palette came with two insets you can swap in and out. I'm not sure which one I used because they aren't numbered; however, the colors are labeled.  For this sake of this blog I’ll call this palette number one!

Closed palette.

 

"Palette 1"

The shadow's names; top row from left to right:

• Plumsmoke
• Oyster
• Berry Pink

bottom row from left to right:

• Iridescent Lilac
• Beechnut
• Baby Blue

two cheek colors from left to right:

• Pink Glow
• Rose Shimmer

Swatches:

From left to right: Plumsmoke, Oyster, Berry Pink, Iridescent Lilac, Beechnut, Baby Blue.

From left to right: Pink Glow, Rose Shimmer.

 

Here is a smokey eye look using the above "palette 1," 

Photo w/indoor lighting.

Photo w/natural lighting!

I have the colors "Plumsmoke" on the lid, "Oyster" on the outer crease, and "Beechnut" on the inner crease. I personally think the palette is void of a great highlight color. However, I think “Oyster” was the intended highlight shadow. My highlight from this look is Urban Decay's "Virgin." You could use any soft beige/skin tone color or your normal go to highlight in place of “Virgin” if you don’t own the color! 

 

I used the cheek color "Pink Glow" as my contour, and the shimmer powder "Rose Shimmer" for the apple of my cheeks and as a highlight for my face. Kat Von D's lipstick in "Celebutard" is on my lips with NYX's Mega Shine Gloss in "Beige Pearl" over top. Any nude lipstick would suffice in place!

The shadows made my blue-green eyes look gorgeous! However, the application process was grueling. For my day to day makeup I would not go grabbing for this palette because it was so time consuming. I used Too Face Shadow Insurance as a primer before applying any shadows. The three shadows I used went on pretty sheer.  I can only imagine how much more sheer they would have been when applied without any base or primer. The colors don't transfer to your eye lid like how they appear in the above swatches. I had to pack on the color over and over again with a brush, until finally I decided to apply “Plumsmoke” wet. It’s the only thing that made the shadow actually somewhat mirror what it looked like in the pan. I wasn’t truly impressed because for an Elizabeth Arden price I could have went for a favorite drugstore palette I know that will transfer true to pan. To add to that, when I came home from work I noticed that the colors began to fade ever so faintly.

HOWEVER, the face products in the palette acted completely different. The cheek color transfers true to pan. It’s not sheer, and also very build-able because the texture is really smooth. My FAVORITE item from the palette is the shimmer powder. I looked for it sold separately on the Elizabeth Arden website, and was sad to see it isn’t sold separately (or at least not on the website).  It feels very fine when applying, and gave me a perfect sun-kissed pink glow.  I’ve begun to use it as my highlight for my everyday makeup. I’ll be sad to see it hit pan. 

Pros: 

• Cheek Color in “Pink Glow” is a great blusher. 
• Shimmer Powder in “Rose Shimmer” is a fantastic highlight shadow to create that soft pink glow! 
• The packaging is adorable, and the palette is easily opened.

Cons: 

• The “insets” fall out really easily, so if you aren’t careful you might drop and shatter the     shadows. 
• There is no way to store the other inset while you aren’t using it that won’t guarantee any damage to the shadows. (It only comes with a simple plastic cover for over top).
• The shadows are sheer, and the colors don’t transfer true to how they appear in the palette     unless applied wet. 
• The shadows themselves are hard to work with, and need lots of color packing and blending over and over to achieve a good look. 
• It also came with a brush and sponge applicator with the palette. The brush frayed and wasn’t really usable. 
• All the shadows are shimmery, so the palette lacks shadow variation.

Overall, I wouldn’t purchase it, but I really adored the way it made my eyes look, and I did get lots of compliments on my makeup that day, so I’ll continue to use it when I have enough time to spend playing around with the shadows. 

I'll do another look with palette #2 along with swatches etc., soon.