Special Day

A very good friend of mind is having a very, very, very special day tomorrow and I want to wish that friend all the good wishes, congratulations, and love in the world!

Cheers to you mate!
Well Wishes and Love!

The Muse's Christmas List Take 2

The Muse has quite a large list of goodies on her wish list this Holiday Season! I already did a previous post about my Japanese Christmas Wish List which you can see by clicking here. This list is basically what I'm deciding on at the moment and wondering what I should and shouldn't get!

Sooooooooo.........here's a few of the items I'm dying to get my greedy little hands on but I'm still trying to figure out what I need and what I HAVE to have!

MAC Stylistics Lipstick in Stylistic and The Scene


MAC Stylistics Sheer Mystery Powder


MAC Stylistics Sheerspark Pressed Powders in Pave, Fashionette, Solitaire, and Warm Ice


MAC Stylistics Lipgloss in Witty and Tastemaker


MAC Finery Lip Bag Sets in Pink, Coral, Tan, and Plum Lips


MAC Metal X Glitter Eyeliners in Blitzed, Limedandy, Wonderwhite, Enbronze, and Pewterpink


YSL White Gold Eyeshadow Collection


YSL White Gold Celebration Palette


YSL White Gold Compact Powder


Anna Sui Christmas Collection




Excel's Holiday Collection


Aube's Jewelry Shower Eyes EX02


I think that covers what I am currently wanting at the moment!

You can see some of the Christmas Collections I've already got by clicking on the links below:

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Brown Quartz ShimmerBrick Click for my First Impression with Pictures

Bare Escentuals Classic Rock Collection Click for my First Impression with Pictures

NARS Night Series Palette Click for my First Impression with Pictures

Awake Limited Edition Stardom Palettes Click for my First Impression with Pictures

bareMinerals bareGold Luxury Color Collection Click for my First Impression with Pictures

Lavshuca Winter Make Palettes Click for my First Impression with Pictures

Stila's "Asia" Only Exclusive Trios and Palettes Click for My First Impression with Pictures

MAC Royal Assets Holiday Collection Click for my First Impression with Pictures

MAC Antiquitease Color Click for my Review, Pictures, and Video

Guerlain Holiday Collection Click for my First Impression with Pictures

Givenchy's Diamantismme Holiday Collection Click for my First Impression with Pictures

See my Christmas Past Collection by clicking here!

So what's on your Christmas Wish List?
What collections have you already gotten?
Which are you really wanting?
What are you skipping?
What are you considering?
Your Muse's ears are open! I want to hear all about it!

The Last Day of Autumn FOTD

Your Muse just got in from the dinner and a movie and decided to make it a rather early night! New York in the winter is NOT a fun place to be! It's cold and windy and bloody brutal weather for a Muse to be out in!

So she's home now, comfy in her bed, blogging to you gorgeous ladies!

Today is sadly the last day of Autumn and it's all down hill from here on out! The snow will be here soon! In celebration of that I did a bit of a Fall-ish look!

Hope you love it!

Cheers and Happy Weekend!
Your defrosting Muse!

What I Used:

Eyes
bareMinerals Glimmer in True Gold
bareMinerals Glimmer in Cerveza
MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle
MAC Pigment in Rushmetal
MAC Pigment in Vanilla
theBalm Overshadow in You Buy, I'll Fly
MAC Pigment in Off the Radar
Bare Escentuals Beautifully Luminous Lashes in Bronze
MAC Technakohl in Black
MJ Lash Enamel Glamour
MJ Lash Bond Primer

Face:
MAC Blush in Fab
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Shimpagne

Lips:
MAC Liptick in Strapless
Lancome Juicy Gelee in Fruit Punch















I've already reviewed some of the products I used! If you're interested you can click on them as I've embedded some links! Those are the links in orange! Just click and you'll be magically whisked away to the review of that product!

Enjoy!

Too Faced Liquif-Eye Review

I've been using Too Faced Liquif-Eye for ages and I'm always on the fence about whether it's a staple product for me or just another flash in the pan that's interesting but not really worth it's price tag!

I use this quite alot to be honest and I really love it but the price tag may turn some off! At $17.50 you get a small bottle of liquid liner and an applicator. What's so special about that? The liner is actually a clear formula that you can use to turn any eyeshadow in your collection into an eyeliner.

It's easy enough to use. Just swipe the applicator onto your favorite eyeshadow and line your eyes! Presto! A million eyeliners at your fingertips thanks to one little bottle of potion!

Nifty right?

I guess you might be thinking that you could do the exact same thing with water and I have tried but I find this actually makes my eyeshadow turned eyeliner waterproof, smudge proof, and long wearing!

After each use I normally wipe this down with a damp tissue and the product comes off easy enough for my next use so I'm not lining my eyes with yesterday's color so to speak! The applicator is nice and hard so it makes lining my eyes easy! It's not a soft bristle brush it's almost like the point of a fine pencil so lining is easy and smooth without a bunch of drama of bristles screwing up the look you are trying to achieve! Dipping this in Urban Decay Oil Slick Eyeshadow and doing a cat eye with this is a dream come true! It comes out flawlessly and beautiful!

I honestly can say you might be able to find a cheaper alternative but I really like the applicator, the formula, and the general idea of how well this works!

It's in my traincase!

Use it?
Love it?
Tell me!

Too Faced Liquif-Eye

The Importance of Piggie Vials

That quite sounds like a disease doesn't it? Piggie Vial? Oh my it does indeed!

You might (or might not if you happen to be a MAC Whore like the Muse) be wondering what Piggie Vials are! Piggie Vials are actually Pigment Vials which are smaller containers of MAC pigment. You can only get pigment vials around the Holidays (or at least that's been the case for the last few years) and they normally come sold in sets of five or so!

Now you might be wondering why I am bringing this up in a blog post! Well I think that the importance of Pigment Vials is underestimated and it's my job to tell you how important they are!

Pigment vials contain 2.5 grams of pigment in one rather cute little vial! Why is this important? MAC Pigments are so pigmented that a little product goes a long way and vials are the perfect solution to not purchasing a large jar of pigment that will take you literally years to get through!

A normal jar of pigment is 7.5 grams in size and is $19.50 while pigment vials are sold normally in lots of 5 for $29.50. That means you'll get 12.5 grams of pigment for a nice little price plus it's a variety of colors you'll receive and enough product that'll last you ages and ages!

I'm addicted to pigments and as appealing as large pigment jars are I'd love if MAC started offering pigment vials as a regular catalog item! How great would it be to walk up to your MAC counter and have the option of buying a full size jar of pigment or a vial of pigment!

Until that time comes (MAC are you listening? We want more piggie vials!) I adore picking up the Holiday collections with the 5 very cute vials that allow me to have an array of colors for an inexpensive price tag!

MAC Pigment and Glitter Vials


MAC introduced two new pigment sets this year which are a warm and a cool selection for $29.50USD each!

MAC Curiousitease Warm Pigment


MAC Curiousitease Cool Pigment


The moral of the story is if you're on the fence or you're new to MAC and you're feeling overwhelmed by the vast collection of color why not settle for a gorgeous set of pigments!

Now is a great time to get them as they are up and available for the Holiday Season!

MAC Pigments (big or small) are always Muse Approved!

MAC Metal X

Sometimes being a MAC Whore is hard work. Last Thursday MAC released Metal X which is a collection of gorgeous metallic cream eyeshadows and some fantastic glitter eyeliners! The entire lot is very appealing and of course the Muse wants it all!

Sadly, I'm having a hard time keeping up with MAC lately! I still have the Finery lip bags, Stylistics, and now Metal X on my wish list! Oh woe is me! Choices, choices, choices! It's so difficult to decide! I want them all to be honest but it's the Holidays and it's time for giving, to others, not myself so I'm in the boat deciding which collections to pass and which collections to get!

As appealing and gorgeous as Metal X is I think I may have to pass. I've heard reviews about the shadows creasing rather badly plus I'm not a cream lover anyway! As for the glitter liners I know they'll somehow make their way into my cart one way or another but I should kindly remind myself that I still have last year's liners which are almost the same colors as this years (except renamed).

Metal X's collection consists of the following yummie goodies:

Cream Eyeshadows

• Virgin Silver
• Pure Ore
• Goldspice
  
• Fusion Gold
  
• Pink Ingot
• Metalblu
  
• Cyber
  
• 6th Sin
• Plum Electric

Glitter Liners

• Blitzed
  
• Wonderwhite
• Enbronze
  
• Limedandy
  
• Pewterpink
  

Previous Glitter Eyeliner comparisons:

Limedany=Divine Lime
Glamourgold=Blitzed
Pewterpink=Saucepot or Pinkphobic
Enbronze=Oxidate
Wonderwhite=Spunsilver

From Left to Right: Spunsilver, Saucepot, Divine Lime, Oxidate, Pinkphobic, Blitzed


I know that the Metal X glitter eyeliners are going to win me over and I'll somehow end up purchasing at least one or two of the eyeshadows out of curiosity but as you can see from the photo above the glitter liners appear to be very similar to previous releases! I haven't yet seen any of the collection in person but I hope and a pray I'm right that the liners are pretty much the same colors I already have in my collection (or should I say my wallet prays)!

Overall, it looks like a fantastic collection but I'm trying hard to resist!

Want it?
Passing?
Tell me!

Bare Escentuals Lippies Set

Bare Escentuals came out with this really awesome set of lippes about a year ago. That's the perfect word for them really, lippies, because I don't really know what else to call them! They aren't a lipstick and they aren't a gloss and they aren't even a cross between the two! They have a category all their own I suppose.







The formula on these is a waxy balm that goes on smoothly, evenly, and offers great moisturize but that's not the best part. The best part is the color! These are tinted with some of the nicest, most natural colors I've ever come across!



My favorite in the lot of two is Barely Berry which literally gives you the perfect "rosebud" pout! I adore this color and it looks so natural and fresh on me! My lips aren't particularly gorgeous minus gloss and stain so I'm always slathering something on to make them look pretty. On the days I don't feel like a buncha of gloss, lipstick or stain I use Barely Berry to make my lips look beautifully fresh!



I'm really, really impressed with these and I'm sad to say that they appear to be no longer available! However, if you are interested I have seen them pop up on E-bay!

The second color the set came with is Barely Sorbert which is a natural peach color. This isn't my favorite of the lot but it is a beautiful very sweet peach color that would be flattering on anyone that carries a more nude color to their lips!



Both are really great products and of course, utterly and totally Muse Approved!

Glittery Black FOTD

Bit o' Glitter Today!





What I Used:

Eyes
Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eyeshadow in Concerto
Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eyeshadow in Sparkling White
MAC Technakohl in Black
Tony and Tiny Herbal Glitter Pencil in Black/Silver
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Liner in Pyrotechnics
Bare Escentuals Beautifully Luminous Mascara and Overcoat Duo in White Diamond

Face
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Porcelain Pink
MAC Blush in Full Fuchsia
T'estimo Highlighter in WT-04

Lips
Urban Decay Lip Envy in Greedy
Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips in Dominique

Margarita Bloom 25% Off Sale

The most lovely Regina at Margarita Boom has informed the Muse that you can get 25% off your entire order up until the New Year!



This is a tremendous value and a great time to stock up on some great and unique Bath and Body goodies as gifts and stocking stuffers!

I featured Margarita Bloom in a Few of my Favorite Stocking Stuffers post! You can click here and check it out!

The Muse is off to fill her cart with goodies!

Philosophy on QVC

It may sound unappealing but I rock the home shopping boat every year for Christmas! Many people think that shopping from QVC will nab you cheap gifts that are not worth the effort or the money of ordering but that's not the case! You can nab some great gifts that are inexpensive and quite posh! They also offer great flexible payment options to spread your payments into small monthly payments rather then paying the entire amount right away! Many cosmetic options also have some products that are exclusive to QVC so these are items you can't purchase from anywhere else!

I've gathered together a few Philosophy items that are really great deals in my opinion and maybe they'll simplify your Christmas gift list!

Philosophy Lemonade 5-Piece Deluxe Set Available at QVC Item Number A18856 $80USD

Includes all of the following items:

• 16-fl oz old fashioned lemonade shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath
• 8-oz lemonade body butter
• 23-oz old fashioned lemonade salt scrub
• 2-oz lemonade hand cream
• 0.5 oz lemon-flavored lip shine

Purchased separately this entire lot would run you $91USD

Lemonade isn't my favorite philosophy Shower Gel but this lot of items will save you $11 if you purchased them separately so not a bad deal!

Philosophy Flavored Lip Collection Available from QVC Item Number A72108 $29.98

Includes all of the following:

• lip gloss in vanilla birthday cake
• lip gloss in powdered sugar cookie
• lip gloss in raspberry sorbet
• lip gloss in melon daiquiri

Purchased separately each lip shine is $10 which totals $40 for four! You'll save $10 by getting this set!

Philosophy Amazing Grace Head to Toe 6 Piece Layering Kit Available from QVC Item Number A4518

Includes all of the following items:

• 8-oz amazing grace shampoo, bath, and shower gel
• 8-oz amazing grace hair conditioner
• 8-oz amazing grace firming body emulsion
• 1-oz amazing grace hand cream
• 2-oz amazing grace spray fragrance
• 0.27 oz amazing grace perfume oil
• 2-oz bonus purity made simple facial cleanser
• 0.4 oz bonus hope in a jar moisturizer

Some of the items in set set aren't valued but if you add together the shampoo, conditioner, body emulsion, hand cream, spray perfume, and oil it comes to $87 or more!

Happy Shopping!

Specktra Blogging

Your Muse is always a busy bee and she presents to you two new Specktra Blog posts!

One from this week and one from last week!

Enjoy!

Majolica Majorca's Lash Expander Review

And

The Perfect Blush

If you use MJ Mascara do let me know what you think of it!

Cheers!

Stila Look Book Palette Review

A few months ago when I purchased my lot of Novel Twist from MAC I decided to wander into Sephora where I came across two Stila palettes that I fell in love with and purchased!

It had been a while since I had seen the Stila girls on any packaging so upon seeing it pretty much sold me without even peeking inside either palette to see the colors (Sometimes packaging is all it takes for a general cosmetic junkie to get excited!).

The Look Books are a $40 package which include everything you need to create the perfect face. You get three shadows, one blush, and a Stila IT Gloss.

Not a bad deal in my opinion.

After getting these home I wandered onto Sephora's website and came across two MORE Look Books! So altogether four were released! After that I quickly e-mailed my fellow Stila addict Iris and explained that these were available did she want them to which she replied that Japan had already gotten them! Oh well so much for sharing the love with my good bud (damn US we're always behind in everything!).

A few months pasted and my obsession with obtaining the other two books was pushed towards the back burner while I pursued the Holiday Collections I was so desperately wanting!

When Sephora's Friend and Family Discount rolled around I remembered that my little Wish List had contained the other two books I hadn't previously gotten so they quickly ended up in my cart! Hey, 20% off sweetened the deal so I most definably wanted these while the saving was good (although they'll be plenty of time in the summer to kick myself in the arse for paying the price I did when they'll probably be available at the Stila Warehouse sale for like $5 each! *groan*)!

This is a rather long story isn't it?

To the goods!

BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!!

Stila Look Books


So as I was saying these are a total value. You're getting full size shadows, blush, and a full size gloss (no minis here)!

Stila IT Glosses


What more could a girl want (lots I know)?

There isn't any creativity behind the names of these little palettes so they just basically range as Stila Look Book 1-4!

Stila Look Book 1 features a lovely brunette on the cover and inside we have some yummie delightful shades to work with! This palette comes with rose blush, heather, grace, and espresso eyeshadow and an IT Gloss in Smashing.





Rose is your standard dusty rose color that will be flattering on most skin shades. Grace shadow is a lovely taupe beige color while Espresso contrasts this shade perfect and is a deeper brown! Mostly I think they are wanting you to use Espresso as a liner shade but I think you can safely get away with using it as a contrasting shadow by offsetting it with Grace. Grace is a shimmering shade while Espresso is a matte. Heather is a soft beige pink color that'll be perfect for using as a wash of color all over the eye prepping it for the darker shades in the palette. And finally the gloss with this is Smashing which is a bright shimmering pink and seems quite out of place with the colors of the palette but hey the Muse never says no to pink gloss!

Look Book 2 comes with lame, oasis, and coin eyeshadow, tint blush, and enchanting IT Gloss. The Tint blush is nothing to write home about and it sadly looks like it may be lacking pigment (I haven't tried it yet) but the shadows are yummie so that more than makes up for the blush! Lame shadow is a shimmering gold, Oasis is a shimmering pink, and Coin is a soft chocolate brown which is matte for the most part but does have tiny flecks of gold. Coin and Gold go well together but Oasis you may find a little difficult working into the look but with a little creativity you're sure to create a great look with the colors! Enchanting gloss, out of all the palettes, is the one that I like the least. It's pretty enough but it contains no shimmer the finish is more of a pearl which isn't a favorite of mine. The color is a cross between a pink and a peach!





Look Book 3 is another disappointment in the blush department. The blush included with this palette is Fade and it's a bronze color and we all know how I feel about bronze! The only redeeming color in the entire palette is Shell shadow which is a shimmering dusty pink color. The other two shadows included are Puck and Dahlia. Puck is a gray brown color that isn't all that exciting. Dahlia is a navy blue matte color which again does nothing to make me jump around! Sadly the entire palette is a mix up color combination if every I did see one and it's going to take some hard work to come up with a good look using it. The redeeming factor would be the IT Gloss included in Sweet which is a rosy brown shimmer that's very pretty!





And finally Look Book 4 which has some very gorgeous colors and could be my favorite of the lot! This contains a blush called Heat which is a dusty rose color that's very pretty and natural on! It also includes eyeshadows in icon, twig, and nude. Icon is a pretty peachy, brown, pink shimmer while Heat offsets this color and is a deep reddish brown shimmer and finally Icon which is a shimmering nude. All the colors in this palette just go great together plus none are matte which is a plus for me! The gloss is an odd choice for this look as it's a peach shimmer but it's beautiful and I'm positive I'll find a look to use it with! The color of the gloss is called Inviting!





Over all these have some great value for your buck as you're getting 5 full size products plus cute packaging! If you're a serious collector of Stila you're going to want these badly! If you're a casual shopper you may want to buy at least get one (might I suggest #4)! It's alot of product for the $40 and a nice deal!

Of course if you happen to live in California the Muse highly recommends waiting for the blessed Stila Warehouse Sale!

These palettes are Muse Approved for purchase!