Random Acts of Iris

This post is ridiculously long over do. It should have been posted months ago but the Muse gets swamped to say the least!

My good friend Iris, who lives in Singapore, sent me over a package of yummy goodies a few months ago. I meant to blog these because I wanted to gush over what she got me but I've been so terribly swamped that I didn't have the chance.

Now I do.

Excited aren't you?

First of all I should say Iris and I have the strangest little friendship. Although we don't talk often because we are always so busy with life, the universe, and everything we still manage to stay good friends. I'd like to think it's because we are so much alike. Iris is very special to me and she's just done too many things for me to count. She's always gone out of her way for me. Listening to me rant about my blog, lugging home ridiculously large packages of Japanese cosmetics and sending them out to me via airmail, randomly sending me lovely little packages, answering my endless questions, the list goes on and on.

I sound like a chick flick right now but I'm just thankful that even though we can go months without saying a word to each other when we do talk it's like no time has passed at all. I'm lucky. Sincerely lucky.

Thanks Iris. For being you.

Now for the good part.

Last Fall Paul and Joe had released it's newest Sparkles Collection and one of the prints was a really cool, flattering orangy Fall cat print. I love Fall and I love Halloween. The print reminded me of both and I fell in love with it.

At the time they also had a GWP with purchase that included this print on a tote style purse that I fell in love with. I e-mailed Iris right away asking for a CP. Sadly, I ended up skipping for some reason or another.

But obviously Iris didn't forget because many months later a large envelope pops into my mail and inside is none other than the purse tote that I so deperately wanted.

Look!







I realize some people are thinking how terribly loud it is...but lord knows I love it. *Happy Sigh*

Inside the tote was a Pupa quad as well in a delicious array of lovely browns that's most flattering on thise Muse's eyes.





So you see, the moral of the story is, good friends are simply awesome and we should always be thankful for having some in our life!

The Golden Compact Awards

The Golden Compact Awards is the first every Beauty Awards by the beauty blog community. The awards showcase the best in beauty products that have debuted from January and December 2008 with winners in five separate categories: hair, skin care, body care, makeup and nails.

Finalists are selected by three wonderful beauty bloggers Jamie Allison from The Beauty of Life, Michelle Mismas from All Lacquered Up and Lilan Doug from The Daily Cookie.

Brands include MAC, YSL, Frederic Fekkai, OPI, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Benefit Cosmetics, Lipstick Queen, and many, many other favorites.

The blogger panel has spent a good deal of time testing and reviewing the products and will reveal their top picks soon! Readers can head over to The Golden Compact site to cast their vote for best products in each category! One random voter will be chosen to receive a prize packaged filled with the items from the finalists (all the more reason to vote! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!).

Visit www.goldencompactawards.com to cast your vote and join in the fun!

All Lacquered Up Featured on Glamour.com

You come visit your Muse because you're makeup obsessed right?

But you likely visit with Michelle @ All Lacquered Up to cure your cravings for all things nail polish!

Do help the Muse in congratulating her mate Michelle on her appearance in Glamour's Beauty Blog!


Click!

If you want to know all good things about Michelle, nail polish, and All Lacquered up do have a peek at the article.

The British Are Invading New York!

Plenty of gorgeous beauty bloggers are popping up all over the Internet today!

One of the Muse's very favorite bloggers and mates, Zara, from Kiss and Makeup is working her gorgeous self on the streets of New York!

See? Not all the gorgeous girls are on the runway! Some of them are right on the streets of New York City (or visiting my lovely city from the UK)!

Check out more about what Zara's wearing and what she's up to by reading the article at Instyle UK.

Visit with Zara at Kiss and Makeup.

Heather Park: Gorgeous Gold and Turquoise Look

Heather Park, musician, makeup girl, MAC PR rep extraordinaire graces Glamour's Beauty Blog with her gorgeous gold and turquoise look!

Check it:



Pairing gold with turquoise never crossed this Muse's mind! Must dupe this look! I likey!

Read the full article at Glamour.

What do you think?

Love it?

Tell the Muse!

It's The Daily Cookie's Birthday!

One thing about blogging that's awesome would be the people you meet and become friends with. I can't begin to tell you how many wonderful people I've met and became friends with simply because we share a common interest of blogging!

Blogging just wouldn't be the same without these people. Friends that don't blog can't always understand the entire concept behind it. Sometimes when I speak to certain friends they just scratch their heads and shrug because they just don't get it. That's when you turn to your blogging friends. Your blogging friends listen to everything about life and blogging which makes them extra special.

One such blogging mate of the Muse's would be the very cute and beautiful Lilan from The Daily Cookie.

Help the Muse out by celebrating Lilan's First Blogging Birthday by clicking over to her site and reading all about her latest contest in celebration of her year of blogging!

On Saturday, August 30th, our favorite Cookie is inviting a dozen ladies out for a day of pampering with a mani/pedi party, appetizers, and refreshments at Lavande Nail Spa in San Fransisco.

Each guess attending will end their afternoon with a goodie bag full of makeup! Whoa! Makeup, food, pedicures.....hmmm do you think they'll be cookies too? The Muse is seriously upset she's all the way in New York when this is happening hmmm I might need to fly on for the occasion hehe!

For those of you who live in the San Fran area you and a friend will have a chance to nab a spot and celebrate in style with Lilan and her friends! Head on over to The Daily Cookie and enter for your chance to win! Entries will be accepted through August 24th at 11:55pm and the winner will be announced on Monday the 25th!

Hurry! You can't possibly want to miss your chance to meet Miss Cookie!

Click!

Another Woodbury Haul Featuring Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Peony

Before I fell in love with Bobbi Brown there was a limited edition shimmer brick released called Peony.

Now I've lemmed Peony for a while in particular the lemming got strong when my good friend Iris was staying in New York and had gone to Woodbury and scored Peony for herself. I remember soon after her trip I headed up to the CCO but I think Iris might have purchased all the Peony for herself, you never know she's as obssessed with makeup as I am and it's a logical conclusion. I only ever seen the one compact she got but what's she not telling us right? I bet she has a few of 'em stocked in a makeup cabinet just waiting to be used! Dontcha Iris? Tell us!

Anyway. I had seen some pics of Peony and it was honestly the darkest most vibrant shade I've seen released in a shimmer brick. It was a deep pink rosy color that looked simply divine and the Muse had to have it for her very self.

Sadly, after much begging and pleading on MUA I was unable to get anyone to swap it away (damn people are always so hard to convince on MUA aren't they? Why put it up for swap if you don't want to part with the bloody thing!).

I soon after turned to E-bay but I suddenly grew a consious when it comes to cosmetics and I was counting my pennies and realized hells I don't want to pay that much when I know the CCO had it for heaps and heaps less!

Noooooooooo!

I pushed Peony to the furtherest corner of my mind and I tried hard not to begurdge my friend her lucky purchase (I'd never begrudge her anything as she's a true darling but for the sake of my story I'll add that in for drama purposes only hehe!).

About two weeks or more ago I wandered up to Woodbury and low and behold what I came across:





HA! Say it with me people...SCOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I ended up snatching up one of many Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks in Peony for the sweet price of $26.75 USD! w00t!

It's all that I hoped for! It's one of the better Shimmer Bricks I've come across and I'm very eager to try it out with a bronzing powder as I think it'll give my bronzing powder an extra pop and sizzle of both shimmer and a beautiful flush of color!

It's probably one of the few shimmer bricks you can wear on bare skin and still look fabulous. Very pigmented and with just the right amount of shimmer this is a solid gold find for the Muse!

I also picked up a Bobbi Brown blush in Apricot while I was there for $14 USD and it's simply a stunning shade. I have a funny feeling this will be making a guest starring appearance on my next Beauty Addictions list!







Dontcha love scoring an awesome steal?

Count the Muse a happy girl on these purchases!

What was your latest haul that made you do a little jig?

What are your lemmings that you're having a hard time finding?

Tell the Muse!

Summer Must Have Makeup: Bourjois Paris Rouge Hi-Tech Review

Aren't random acts of kindness awesome?

I was discussing Bourjois Paris's New Rouge Hi-Tech a few weeks ago and one of my readers in England kindly e-mailed me soon after asking if I'd like a CP for it!

A big thanks goes out to Laura for helping the Muse out! Laura sent over my stain with a beautiful card that is now gracing my desk!





You can thank her for this review since this new stain is not yet available within the US as of yet!

At first glance the packaging misleads you into believing this is a creamy lip color however its very much a stain! I couldn't be more thrilled with this as my very favorite product from Bourjous Paris, Bons Baisers de Paris, has long since been gone from our shelves!





The packaging is identical to the Bourjois Paris Shimmer Shine Liquid Eye Shadow. Unscrew to reveal the top of the wand applicator, pop the applicator out, and you're ready to rock.





The formula is your typical gel like stain that's a deep rose pigment. These come in a few shade options and I got the deeper shade of pink available. I didn't find the formula drying in the least. Since this is a gel-like texture it goes on very moist and wet and leaves behind beautiful, pink lips. I love the look of "just bitten" lips or lips that look like I just had a cherry ice pop and this indeed gives me that look!



This is an ideal item for Summer and definately makes its way onto my Summer Makeup Must Have list simply because it's refreshing, light, extremely long wearing and gives a beautiful burst of color to my lips without being heavy!

I went ahead and got really random by applying it to my cheeks as well as my lips. I'm happy to report it doubles up as a killer cheek stain. Although I'm somewhat grossed out by using one product on my lips and cheeks (as you may have already read my distaste for this from my Stila Cherry Crush Review) I couldn't resist trying this out. It gave my cheeks a lovely blushing color! I was so taken with it on my cheeks that I may just need a back up bottle to use as a cheek stain!

Un-blended


Blended


I'm thinking at this price you can easily use it as a Benefit Benetint or Posietint dupe! You get almost identical results plus it's much, much cheaper! This was available on sale at Boots for £5.75 and will likely cost between $12 and $16 USD when it arrives on our side of the pond.

All in all Bourjois Paris has another winner on it's hands! Rouge Hi-Tech definately gets a hearty Muse Approval!



The Muse is loving the cost, loving the fresh look it creates, and really loving the packaging! What's not to like!

This morning I did a quickie FOTD using Bourjois Paris Hi-Tech Rouge on both my lips and my cheeks. I did two versions of the photo which shows me wearing the stain with and without gloss. I think the gloss really makes the color of the stain pop!

Without Gloss


With Gloss


The Muse is loving this stain!

Have it?

Love it?

Wanting it?

Tell the Muse!

Wendy's Awesome Dior Collection

My very sweet reader and friend, Wendy, created some killer videos with her Dior Collection! She's such a cutie I was utterly enthralled listening to her dutch accent (my x-boyfriend was dutch and had a similarly awesome accent!).

Do click here and have a visit with Wendy at her site Why Me Sweetie! Her blog is a fun read and I especially enjoyed viewing her Dior Collection!

Anyone for a trip to the Nederlands? Maybe if we are extra nice Wendy will let us pet and caress her Dior palettes (try not to drool on them!).

Whatta ya think?

Cheers Wendy! Gorgeous Collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAC DressCamp Contest @ A Beautyful Sentiment

The very beautiful and sweet Jennifer from A Beautyful Sentiment has just started a blog of her very own! She's been visiting me here quite some time and always brightens up my blog with her great input and feedback in my comment section!

Her blog is quite shaping up to be a wonderful array of fantastic reviews and beautiful cosmetic pictures and posts!

The good news is in celebration of her awesome new blog Jen is being very generous with MAC DressCamp. As you know the collection sold out in a silly amount of time and not everyone was lucky enough to nab it but have no fear Jen is making the chances of nabbing it a reality!

She has a contest up at the moment that will enable you to win the two best pieces in the collection in the Muse's opinion which would be the DressCamp Palette and She-Gold Lipglass!

How's the contest work?

Simple!

You have to guess how many pearls are in Jen's Guerlain Meteorites container!

Click on over here to participate in the contest!

The Muse is going to take a lucky guess herself (not to win as I already have the collection but just for fun to see how close I can get!).

Good Luck Everyone and Congrats on the fantastic new blog Jen!

Coastal Scents Mega Palette

The equally beautiful and cute, Elessa, from Pursebuzz recently did a review on the 88 Shadow Palette from Coastal Scents!

Holy cow this thing is MASSIVE and it's only $19.95 USD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Muse wants an 88 color palette for herself hmmmm should I or shouldn't I indulge?



This honestly wouldn't get me too excited but since Elessa gave it a rather good review I admit my curiosity has spiked!

See Elessa's video review below!

Vote Cookie!

If you're a beauty blogger chances are you know a sweet little lady by the name of nilla cookie aka Lilan. Lilan has been commenting and reading Musings of the Muse for quite a while now and has been a fast friend of the Muse's. I see her about bringing a bit of sunshine to beauty bloggers everywhere with her friendly comments and sweet nature!

Chances are you love her as much as I do so why not show her a bit of that love and vote for her wonderful blog, the Daily Cookie, at the Glam Media 2nd Annual Glam Network Awards.

Lilan's blog, the Daily Cookie, has been nominated for Beauty Publisher category! How exciting! Congrats Mizz Cookie!

You might want to show the Daily Cookie and it's author a little love and support by heading over to Glam Network and casting your vote! Click here to participate!

Keep in mind you can vote once a day up until April 10, 2008 so if you have a spare second during the day definately head over and have a quick click!

Congrats Lilan!

Dalenna's First FOTD

My awesome little mate Dalenna decided to brave the storm and jump onto the FOTD bandwagon!

She did a beautiful look that I really envy! I can never make my makeup look so natural, fresh, and gorgeous like this!

Click here to show Mizz D a little love for her first ever FOTD!

While you're giving her love you should also help me hate on her for her flawless silky hair...sheesh why doesn't my hair behave so great???

Cheers D! Great job sweetie! I look forward to seeing more FOTD's in your future posts!

MAC Fafi Tote

The Muse's mate Gezebel has gotten her Fafi Tote from MAC!

Click over and have a look!

I figure Gez can fit herself, her keys, her cosmetics, and maybe the kitchen sink in her new Fafi Tote!

Cheers Gez!

Enjoy the awesome bag my friend!

Images of Spring in Japan Part 2

The Muse's mate Betsy has shared some wonderful images of her Spring Haul again with the Muse!

You can see the previous palettes that Betsy has purchased for Spring by clicking here!

I'm totally lemming the new Lunasol palettes after seeing the pictures she sent me so gorgeous! The Magie Deco are so pricey but obviously worth the bucks as look at how beautiful these are!

Cosme Decorte Magie Deco Palettes




Lunasol Palette

"You Make My Day Awards"

I wanted to share this with you guys because I was so deeply touched by it. Izar, one of my readers, has awarded with a "You Make My Day Award" for her blog!

I just visited her blog for the first time today and it's wonderful! One of the first things that caught my eye was Izar's Deviant page! Izar is obviously a very talented, gifted artist! And of course the fact that she blogs about my favorite topic, cosmetics, means she'll be making her way onto my daily visit list!

Izar decided to pass the award on to me!

About the "You Make MY Day Award":

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland..."

The general idea that I inspire anyone deeply touches me plus make them happy? That makes me happy too ;)

Thank you Izar! I'm honored to be included in your post and awarded!

Visit Izar at the Binary Star by clicking here!

Megan's Return!

Ah our beloved Megs is back with a killer Tutorial for a sparkly eyeshadow look!



Visit Meg and Row @ Mostly Make Up! Click!

Because I Love Mandy.....

I was tagged a few week's ago to spill my purse contents out for the blogging world to see by Grayburn! You'd think I'd have gotten on it by now!

Sorry but this isn't a post about what's in the Muse's bag but it is a post about what's in Mandy's bag!

You can find similar posts on a few other blogs that are participating in the tag game! I'll be doing my post shortly but I highly suggest running over to peek at Mandy's bag spillage. Click!

I've singled out Mandy's particular post because her her third to last post had me rolling around laughing so hard that my tea went down the wrong way and ended up coming out my nose!

Do read the comments for further proof that maybe Mandy isn't quite all there!

Another Box of Goodies for the Muse from Taryn!

My reader and friend Taryn got a beautiful haul of goodies from JPMon a few weeks ago! I actually blogged about it, you can click here to refresh your memory and read about her haul!

One of the items she was very excited about was the Fairy Drops Mascara. I got hyped over this as well after seeing the unique brush it came with and was eager to do my own order!

Before I could do an order Taryn was offering up her extra mascara to me! *blush* She sent it over with a TON of extra goodies that totally made me sniff! She was amazingly generous and sweet to put such a lovely package together for me and I wanted to show off some of what she sent me!

All my awesome goodies!


Tada Fairy Drops Mascara! This stuff is amazing! I used it this morning after opening the box! I'll be doing a review shortly!


She also sent me a jar of Jelly Pong Pong Venus Pearls! Holy cow! These are amazing and I'll be reviewing them shortly! I've been wanting to try them for ages and ages! Taryn totally read my mind that I wanted to give these a whirl ;) I'll be reviewing them shortly as these are a must try!



Ben Nye Lux Powder Sooooooooooooo shimmery and gorgeous and yum! Love it! Will be reviewing it too soon ;)



AHHHHHH! Tons of new piggies to try! Yay!


Big thanks to Taryn! You totally made my day! I was sniffling while I opened it all! Thanks darling!

Big Hugs!

Treats from Row

After getting back from the airport this morning, prior to heading to work, I hopped in the shower, got dressed, and sat down to sort mail!

Much to my surprise and delight a little parcel from England was in with the lot of boring bills, catalogs, and other garbage mail!

Hmmm what could this be!?

Tearing it open out poured a ton of great things! Lush soaps, Soap and Glory Lipgloss, Molton Brown Lotion, sweets, and much more!

Oh my it felt like Christmas!

I was particularly fixated on the rather large chunk of Lily Savon soap I was holding in my hand as I've been dying to try it and haven't yet! It smelled so good that I held it to my nose during the duration of reading the card and letter tucked into the parcel!

Turns out my beautiful goodies was thanks to my most lovely mate Rowene.

So this is a HUGE thank you to a very gorgeous friend for making my day brighter when jet lag was setting in!

Your thoughtfulness totally made me happy!

I'm utterly chuffed to have great pieces of Lush Miranda and Lily Savon gracing my shower! I was so eager to use Lily Savon that I ended up washing my hands with it just so I could try it! I'm a big fan of Miranda and haven't had any around in a good long while as mailorder UK has a knack for being out of stock everytime I order!

One item that happens to not be in the pic is the Boots Eye Gel she sent which is now totally rocking my world for depuffing my tired eyes today! I'll be reviewing the lipgloss (been wanting to try Soap and Glory for AGESSSSSSSSSS), the soaps, and the eye gel very soon!

The card from Rows that's gracing my fridge door! How cute!


The Curly Wurly soon disappeared after this pic! Both actually...and a little bit after that the Black Jack made an exit as well! My tummie is in heaven as I haven't had a Curly Wurly in a good long while!


Sadly the sweets that the Muse sent to Row have been gobbled down by Row's evil boyfriend! ;)

Thanks Rows! I'm lucky to have such a great mate like you! You sincerely made my day with your sweetness!

*mwah*