Morgana Cryptoria Mini Haul Swatches

It's been a long time since I've ordered from Morgana, and woah has she added new stuff! Glosses, gel lipsticks, balms..it was overwhelming. I knew she'd be doing a Black Friday sale, so I wanted to get a few things to try out so if I liked them, I could go buck wild during the sale. I bought some stuff, but I didn't get too crazy, fortunately. haha
Anyway, I ordered one gel lipstick (Athena), one balm (Merlot), one gloss (Fallen Leaves) and one eyeshadow (Pyramid Scheme). I always try to order at least one eyeshadow whenever I buy from Morgana because it seems like with all her amazing lip products, her eyeshadows get overlooked. They shouldn't though, they're pretty awesome as well.
My tiny, adorable little haul. :P

Merlot lip balm:Woah! This is no ordinary lip balm. I was kind of expecting something sheer and slick, but this is no such thing. It's got just the right amount of pigment and is really smooth. I didn't wear it very long, so I can't say how long it lasts, but it does make your lips feel soft. I can't believe how many different colors there are of these too, I had a hard time deciding. I went with this dark red because I figured I'd wear it a lot during winter.

Athena gel lipstick:Couldn't pass up a pretty purple! This one is really soft, and looks quite shiny on the lips. I think the finish looks great with the color, but I can't tell if this one would be very long wearing or not. It says on the site that they last a long time if you don't purse your lips together, but that's bad news for me because I have a habit of doing that almost constantly.

Fallen Leaves gloss:I applied this one with a lip brush, so that's why my cupids bow looks so sculpted, haha. When I first opened the pot, there was a lot of gloss stuck to the top and it kinda flung out on me a little so you have to be careful with these. However, I LOVE this stuff! I think the color is beautiful for fall and winter, and the green duochrome is very noticable, but not so much that it's weird. I got this with a cinnamon scent, and it's kind of tingly. This one I did wear a long time, and it lasts quite a while! Especially for a gloss. The pot is cheaper than the tube, but I think it comes with plenty of product, for me anyway.

Pyramid Scheme eyeshadow: A very pretty nude eyeshadow. It's kind of pinkish tan with gold sparkles. It doesn't look as pink on me as it does in the jar because I have so much yellow in my eyelids. I like this one a lot because I can see it going with just about anything.

Well, that's all for now. It's been WAAAY too long since I've gotten any goodies (been on a long no-buy) but I'm slowly getting back into the game. I'm trying to catch up on everyone else's posts as well. The semester is almost over, so thank GOD for that. You'll probably be seeing more of me from now on, like it or not. :D

Have a lovely evening!

Lacey Corset Nails using OPI "Mermaid's Tears"

I don't normally buy OPI polish (it's a tad out of my price range at $8.50 a bottle) but I sort of had a fit over this color when it came out. It's been a while since it came out, it was part of that Pirates of the Caribbean collection they had a while back. The name alone sold me (I've always had a thing for mermaids) but the color is GORGEOUS! It's so "me." Anyway, I did this cute little design yesterday and thought I would share. My bows are a little wonky, but it's not that noticeable from far away.

I used a black striper polish for the lines and little curves, and a dotting tool to make the bow shapes. It was a little tedious, but it wasn't hard. I think this would be cute with a pink or purple polish too.

Oh, and if you guys are still in Black Friday mode, I've been having a sale going on in my Etsy shop. Everything is 20% off with the code "crystalball." It's active until Monday. The link is on the right side of this page, or just go to www.annamax.etsy.com. I actually broke my no buy and bought a few things this weekend from Morgana Cryptoria, so expect some swatches whenever they get here. It's been too long!

Have a lovely evening!

Turkey Day LOTD Using Shiro and GDE

Oh, Thanksgiving break, how I love you so. I'm proud of myself for actually taking the time to do a look today. And it's neutral. Weeeird, right? Well, it's sort of neutral. It's very much a fall look, so I thought it would be appropriate for Thanksgiving.


Eyes:
-Too Faced Shadow Insurance
-Shiro Cosmetics "S.S. Anne" all over main lid
-Glamour Doll Eyes "Just Bitten" on the outer V
-Nameless shimmery white from one of the Wet n Wild palettes on browbone
-Maybelline "Big" Great Lash black mascara

Lips:
-Morgana Cryptoria "Roses and Violets"

Cheeks:
-Clinique blush in "Smoldering Plum" (even though you can't ever see it in my photos, it's actually a really lovely blush)

I feel like I've done a look very, very similar to this in the past. I really like S.S. Anne. It's one of the few browns that I really love. Roses and Violets is also a very pretty "normal" lipstick from Morgana. I only have a sample of it, but I think if I had a full size I would wear it all the time.

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I hope you didn't eat as much as I did... brb, going into turkey coma.

Nebula Nails and New Layout

This design is actually from a little while ago, but I never got around to posting it. I got tons of compliments on it, probably because it's so sparkly. I was worried it was going to end up looking like nail polish vomit, but I think it turned out pretty good. I got the idea from cutepolish from Youtube.


First, I painted my nails a solid black. Then I took a piece of a makeup sponge and dabbed white, then pink, then blue, then yellow polish across the nail in random directions. I just used white polish and a toothpick to make the stars, then painted a layer of silver glitter polish on top to make it even more starry. Pretty cool, eh?

By the way, what do you guys think of the new layout? I don't quite have a degree in graphic design yet, and also did the banner in one afternoon, but I think it looks much better than before. It just needed more purple! I think I already mentioned this a while ago, but the illustration was a commission by guibb on deviantart. Isn't it awesome? I highly recommend checking him out if you want a little person for your website, blog, or what have you.

I hope everyone has a lovely week!