NYX Paris Round Lipstick

Yeh! I finally copped something from the little sister. I found her makeup bag and found my Urban Decay 24/7 liner Zero in it. Thanks. *rolls eyes* I also found NYX Paris lipstick. I was wondering how close this is to MAC's Pink Nuveau lipstick, which I don't own yet.

I gotta spice up the cam whoring some how! :D
In the pics, the color is softer and more wearable. However, in real life it may take you by surprise. It's a more stark pink and very opaque.

Do any of you have NYX's Paris? Is it like the Pink Nuveau?

MAC's new #130 Brush

MAC developed the #130
"A short, round, flat-topped brush ideal for the smooth, easy application of foundations, creams, emulsions, and select powder products. Features a blend of natural bristles and synthetic fibres."--says MAC.

Take a look!

Compared with a #187/stippling duo fiber SE and ELF's Studio line/ flat top/ powder brush (Don't let the solo shots fool you. This brush is small and skinty, lol)

Take a look at their heads....

PROS
soft, but firm enough, duo fibre, dense enough, no shedding

CONS

surface area of the flat top is too friggin small!!! the #187 SE is my faux #188--decent surface area, ELF got their version right! this??? *sigh*

So I walk into MAC,to purchase the new brush that will lay the #109 to rest. I'm like "Put it in the bagggg!" I get home and I'm "Wtf did I buy??" *sigh*

The head/surface area is seriously smaller than a quarter. A buffer/concealer brush?? A blusher brush? I mean it will get the job done, but I'd prefer a larger surface area. Will MAC be releasing a larger version of this in an upcoming release? (Not so according to Temptalia, smch!)

Darn! I didn't throw the #109 in the pics... oh, it's still at work in my makeup bag! Disappointed to say the least as it was rumored to take the place of/ work better than the #109. How about you?

L'Oreal Fairest Nude, MAC Cherish and Brave New Bronze Comparisons

[EDITED TO ADD MORE INFO!]

When I tried on Fairest Nude (L'Oreal, drugstores), I instantly thought of my lipsticks Brave New Bronze (MAC Limited Edition, Style Warriors, Summer '09) and Cherish (MAC Permanent). I decided to swatch all of the colors together. For reference, I'm MAC NC40-42 in most of their foundations; Bobbi Brown I'm Warm Natural 4.5.

Blogger is putting up a fight! I am wearing Fairest Nude without a flash

(Brave New Bronze, Cherish and Fairest Nude)

(with Flash)

Swatches

(Bare lips, pretty pale)

Cherish lipstick


(Brave New Bronze on the lips, flash)

(Brave New Bronze, no flash)

Texture

Brave New Bronze was the most drying on my lips. Both Cherish and Brave New Bronze are Satins, but BNB feels like a matte!

L'Oreal's FN was the least drying and feels like a cross between a MAC Satin and Cremesheen finish lipsticks.

Color

In the pics, BNB looks like the baby of FN (pink beigy nude) and Cherish (a more neutral beige, even though a bit pink). That's true if I wear it alone, bare-faced. However, in person, with my foundation on it's a dead match with my skin, given a tad darker and a bit more cakey ;)

LA Makeup Show + Inglot

Me: Nikkia (Silver Lips), do you think Inglot will be at The Makeup Show?
Nikkia (Silver Lips): No, they don't even have a website yet.

Look what we have here in my inbox!:

"THE MAKEUP SHOW LA Close-up: Meet Inglot.

Then Touch, Mix & Play Oh Inglot! Where have you been all our lives? We'd been waiting 25 years for the Polish based makeup brand Inglot to arrive stateside, who opened a flagship store last year in New York City. And now for a West Coast debut, Inglot heads to Hollywood with The Makeup Show LA. Check out Inglot in action with celebrity makeup artist Jon Hennesy who will be holding a free seminar on "Achieving Editorial Beauty" on Sunday, February 28, 9:45am-10:30am.

For more information, visit http://www.themakeupshow.com/. Get intimate with the makeup before the purchase with Inglot's master tester system. How intimate? For makeup lovers, all bases, with all 1,500 colors and over 2000 products to touch, with the freedom to explore, create and customize the perfect color palette.

For more infomation, visit http://www.inglotcosmetics.com/. The Makeup Show brings together top industry exhibitors, speakers from all areas of the makeup artistry, new product introductions and special pro-only offers - all in an intimate setting where insider-only tips and techniques are traded between the best in the business.

The Makeup Show LA
February 28 - March 1, 2010
9am-6pm Daily
For the complete list of participating brands, speakers and educational schedule visit www.themakeupshow.com"

Wow! There it is! Straight from the source! They will not only be at the makeup show, they also have their website up and running!!

Are you attending The Makeup Show LA??
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

L'Oreal Fairest Nude

Ohh la L'Oreal! I never noticed that L'oreal printed their name on their lipsticks! Cool!

$5 on sale at CVS; Color Riche lipsticks and various other L'Oreal cosmetics incl. HiP.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Weekend Re-cap in Pictures

After arriving in NY and seeing what we could while Staples hopping (don't ask), we finally got to our hotel and settled in. The ladies had to get ready!

Nikkia/Silver Lips rocking her new cut and Victoria lipstick from MAC's new Color Forecast collection. She also added some corner half lashes!

YANNIZE/AmmoMag! The queen of NY! When I make my 5 minute trips to NY (that's what it feels like!), she's always the perfect ambassador, making sure we have a blast. Here she is in her Victorian lipstick too! *Hmmm mentally adds that to the to-buy list*

Me! Yannize suggested I use the Color Forecast crushed pigments in the neutrals/golds. I used a bright gold one on the lid. It made a pretty foiled gold look. Sorry, I don't have other close ups with detail. I used NYX lashes #144 (crazy drama) and popped some Fashion Fair blush in Golden Sunset on the cheeks.

We hit the town to head to the NYFW Media Mixer!

Mischo Beauty, Silver Lips and her hair in action!

Silver Lips, Beauty Logic/Dominican Enigma, Miss Whoever You Are, and Yannize

Silver Lips and This That Beauty/Felicia

All Lacquered Up/Michelle and me

The Beauty Chick 3/Amy and me

I'm here with Roselyn/Tempt'd and formerly Makeup Makes Me Happy

We found Bre of America's next top model who now,amongst other things, blogs for Honey's online magazine.

Ted Gibson and me

Krasey Beauty, me, Beauty Chick 101, and Miss Whoever You Are

Check out more pics from the event: NYFW Media Mixer

After the soiree and making stops in between, we(me, Silver Lips, the Informed Make-up Mave and Kare, the Make-up Diva decided to make our after party at the Inglot cosmetic store. It stays open until 12am!!

Yes, all the hype that B (Clumps of Mascara) gives Inglot, is all justified!

With their Freedom system (choosing your palette of 2, 5 or 10 in square shadows or circle, blush, lipstick, you name it, you have a choice!) I made a 5 shadow palette ($30)
Pigmented shadows, sleek magnetic packaging... sweet!

I topped off my trip with a stop at Texas BBQ (one of my fave local eats in Ny!) The Blue Hawaiian frozen margarita was dreamy! Yum!

And for the love in me on VDay, I went to see Valentine's Day the movie=adorable!

*I'll edit to add links to these amazing bloggers soon! Google them in the mean time :) *

Best Weekend Ever!

This is one of the biggest reasons I had the best weekend ever. Yes, that's Ted Gibson and me. Before I could ask him to take a pic with me, he embraced my face and began to exclaim how beautiful I was (...double, blubber chin and all) to the crowd standing around awaiting his attention. From that point on, he was my Valentine in my mind. Oh natural sistas, I got to tell him personally how excited I was that his very upscale salon offered loc maintenance. That means so much! Black hair is not forgotten or under valued! We deserve the best too! Okay, I'll give you all more deets later. Let me bask in my delight just a little while longer..... toodles!

Hair and Makeup for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Beauty: Sexy Date-Night Hair and Makeup Looks

Steal one of these celebrity looks on February 14th

Whether you're going on your first date or your fiftieth, be confident and sexy in your skin by trying one of these easy celebrity looks. Here we share tricks on how to get them. See photos

Missing Valentine Look and Listen

Last, but not least, the missing Valentine look:
You're between a rock and a hard place, you don't need him and need to let him go, but you love him so. The Valentine that you know you want, but is not yours; you'll be better off without him. This look and play list is for you!

Deets:
FACE: MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation
Milani powder foundation to set

Get my pink vday look!

-Base lid from lash to brow with soft ochre paint pot

-Base lid with white eye kohl or nyx milk jumbo pencil (I used Fascinating eye kohl by MAC)

-use a light pink on the lid (I used milani's light pink from the Dream Baby quad)

-use mac girlie in crease (slightly deeper pink)

-use mac cranberry in outer v

-for more depth use a bit of mac carbon in (smaller) outer v

-use mac gesso (white shadow) on inner v

-line upper lid with black liner, wing it

-line bottom lid with black liner, wing it down

-use white pencil in between wings of liner

-apply lashes (I used Red Cherry #

CHEEKS: Milani Cherries on Top Double Impact Blush (old!)
LIPS: En Point lipglass (MAC, LE, Danse collection '06-- cannot believe my gloss is that old ew! lol p.s. this is one of my fave pink MAC glosses!)

This looks soft in the pics, but trust it's more intense in real life!

There's the look, now join us in pulling some heart strings with our "missing Valentine" tunes! This list is a compilation of favorite missing love songs on the iPod from Teen Yummy411 and me!

Missing Valentine Play List
Do You-Neyo
I Miss My Friend- Mario
Love Lost- Trey Songs
Promise- Ciara
Golden- Chrisette Michelle
We Can't Be Friends- Deborah Cox
Ex-Factor- Lauryn Hill
Never Gonna Let You Go- Faith
Brokenhearted- Brandy f/Wanye
Missing You- Mary J. Blige
Officially Missing You- Tamia
I Wish- Carl Thomas

So there you have it! All the Vday categories: Love, Anti-VDay and Missing Valentine. I hope you enjoyed the series, the looks and the play lists. Are you with the Missing Valentine crew? Do you have a favorite song that captures this sentiment?

Favorite Makeup Wipes

My favorite wipes right now!

Neutrogena Make-up Remover Wipes

25/$6.99

Conveniently @ drugstores

MAC Make-up Remover Wipes

45/$18 or bulk 100/$26

Department store/MAC Store

Total convenience @ home:

Neutragena Oil-Free makeup remover

3.8 fl. oz./$6

+

Wal Mart Equate baby wipes

240/$14

(Alot of ppl swear by the Equate wipes, but they do nothing for my eye makeup alone.)

Can't wait to try Alcone makeup remover wipes!

Anti- VDay Look and Listen

Some of us appreciate the love in our lives, but we don't celebrate VDay the traditional way with that S.O.S, romantic dinners and gifts. We tell these no good dudes to kick rocks and we celebrate loving ourselves. Here's for those of us giving VDay a middle finger!

Deets:
FACE: MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation
Milani powder foundation to set

EYES: Viz-a-Violet pigment foiled (lid), Soft Brown (crease), Bobbi Brown yellow setting powder (highlight), Sea and Sky mineralized eyeshadow, deep blue side (bottom lid), blue liner

on top lid, UD Ransom-purple liner on waterline

NW30, NW25 Studio finish concealer (under eyes, outer corner of lips, cupid's bow, bridge of nose)

2 sets of Ardell wispies, stacked

CHEEKS: Smooth Harmony (to contour), MUFE 92 (blush) with a touch of NYX Mocha

LIPS: UD Ransom, MAC Love Knot lipglass (LE)

There's the look, now join us in jamming to some of our "love lost" hits! This list is a com

pilation of favorite anit-love songs on the iPod fromTeen Yummy411 and me!

Anti Vday Love Songs
*Gives You Hell- All American Rejects
*Take This Ring- Tony Braxton

*Up Out My Face- Mariah Carey f/ Nikki Minaj
That's Right- Ciara
So What- Pink
Since You Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson
Single Ladies-Beyonce
Regret (f/Ludacris)- LeToya
Switch- Jazmine Sullivan
Hot N Cold- Katy Perry

Call Tyrone- Erykah Badu

*our favorite songs on the list!

"Get out of my face" and "just call Tyrone!" LOL!

Are you with the Valentine's Day is for Love party or the Anti VDay party? Stay tuned for the Missing Valentine look (final one)! Check out a similar Anti-VDay look I did in '08!

Thinking of going natural? CurlyNikki Transition Stories

My transition story (if I haven't told it already):

While pregnant, I gave up  chemicals during pregnancy.  After delivering my bambino, I tried to stick with it, but I couldn't quite manage my natural hair.  Having the two textures and becoming increasingly tender headed, I went back to relaxing.  I got tired of that.  I never learned how to take care of my hair in a processed state either! The solution was to always throw it in a pony tail and go about my biz.  This time around, I could not be dependant on a hairdresser with a nursing new born at home.

I braided my hair up.  The long hours in the shop for a $200 hair do, the take down process.. My hair became a burden and not the form of expression and pride I knew it could be.  This last take down, I did it alone (without the assistance of my sisters), my arms were tired, my head filled with anger and tears.  I didn't even finish taking this set out.  I cut out the last patch of braids!

My self-liberating chop made me feel free of this heavy burden! It wasn't even neat! I used regular paper scissors, chopped off my hair, grabbed some dye and emerged from the bathroom.  My mother thought I was having an early life crisis, emotional breakdown... whatever she wanted to call it, I was glad I did it.  I didn't read blogs, mags or anything. No plan. No thought of what I was facing!

I wore gel twists with the thought of locking, but I couldn't commit.

 I wore a teeny weeny afro for a bit.

Finally, I locked down!  I couldn't keep up with my TWA.. making sure it was even all the way around, lint free, etc.  I wanted some locs!

 Finally, I had real locks (they were maturing)!  So far, I'm liking this journey.  The different loc phases have been quite interesting!  What's next, ol' head of hair of mine?

Have you thought of going natural?  Currently transitioning?  Check out more stories like mine at one of black web's most popular hair blogs, Curly Nikki.

CurlyNikki Transition Stories