April 2013 Ipsy Bag

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Sorry for not posting all this week!  My dog started to act unlike herself on Saturday, so we took her to the vet and I've been nursing her back to health.  It took a few days, but she's back to her old self now! :)

So today I have my April Ipsy bag!  It's been a while since I posted one of these...I should really try to be more consistent with my Ipsy bag posts considering they come every month, haha.

This bag's theme was Pretty in Pink.  It came in a white bag with a hot pink zipper.  Honestly, I'm not a fan of the bag.  I just know it's going to get filthy if I use it, so I'm probably going to end up not using it at all.  I think they should gone with a pink bag, since the theme is Pretty in Pink!

So this bag came with a long awaited product!  I always see requests for this product whenever I stop by the Ipsy Facebook page.  And that product is...

...BLUSH!  Personally, I didn't mind either way that there wasn't any blush yet.  However, I really didn't want to get another eyeliner, so I'm glad there wasn't one in this bag.  I feel like a lot of the previous bags had eyeliner, and you can only use so many at one time.  I don't like having a lot because eyeliner dries up.  Eyeshadow, on the other hand, lasts longer, so I don't mind getting one or two in each bag.

Anyway, this bag came with 4 items: Sation nail polish in Love at First Byte, Mica Beauty shimmer powder in Earth, Big Sexy Hair Powder Play, and the long awaited blush by Bombshell Cosmetics (in Sweet Cheeks).  Not all bags were the same this month, as some people got an eyeshadow duo by Two Cosmetics instead of the Mica Beauty one and some received Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal instead of the Powder Play.  I kind of wanted to try the Soy Renewal, but I don't mind getting Powder Play. I can always use more volume in my hair!  Also, the nail polish and blush came in two different colors.  The other nail polish color was in Of Corset I'll Call You and the other blush was in Beach Please.

At first glance, the blush I got in Sweet Cheeks looked like it would be a nice, wearable almost matte pink, with maybe a slight sheen or shimmer.

But when swatched, it's a different story:

It has quite a strong sheen, making it come off as shiny when swatched.  It's actually quite a bit more shiny than what the picture is showing.  But it is a nice shade of pink, so I will still give it a try on my cheeks and see how it looks.  Hopefully it will look alright and be usable as a nice blush. :)

The Mica Beauty shimmer powder in Earth seemed like it might make a good all over lid color, but then I swatched it:

As you can see, the color is barely darker than my skin.  It's also quite sparkly, so I probably won't be wearing this all over the lid now.  I think this would be good to pop on the middle of the lid though, for a bit of dimension.  This was swatched without primer, so maybe it will be more wearable with primer.

All in all, a pretty good bag.  I'm looking forward to trying the products.  I already had the polish that came in my bag, as well as the other polish, because I bought the Sation Miss Antoinette collection a few weeks ago.  It's in my "to swatch" pile, and I'm hoping to get it up within the next week or two since it is a Spring collection!  Keep an eye out for that! ;)

Julep Maven: April 2013 Classic with a Twist (Avery, Jackie) Swatches

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I veered away from It Girl this month because I only liked 2 out of 3 of the colors.  Instead, I opted for Classic with a Twist, because I liked both colors and I wanted to try the cuticle serum.  And then I added on the 2 colors from It Girl that I did like, haha.  I'm quite happy with these colors because I don't really have brights and these will be great for the summer season. 

Classic with a Twist came with 2 polishes and the Nail and Cuticle Serum, plus a rock candy lollipop as an extra little something.  The 2 polishes in my box are Avery and Jackie, both cremes and both seem perfect for the upcoming summer!

Click for swatches.

Wishlist Wednesday (05)

Dun da dun!  Time for another Wishlist Wednesday!  I haven't done one of these in a while, but things have been piling up on my wishlist, so I thought I'd share a few.

source

I have wanted these perfumes since seeing MissChievous's I ♥ Spring tag video.  She had a set that I'm guessing is a press sample, because these have not been released yet.  I haven't been able to find out much information on these, but it seems like these are supposed to come out this month.  I hope they do release a set like the one Julia has because I'm interested in all 4 of these scents!  

I've been really into fragrances lately, and another one I've really been lemming is this one by Marchesa.  I think the bottle is just so chic and elegant, and it smells amazing!

I haven't been able to find the China Glaze Avant Garden collection yet!  I haven't seen it at the Ulta or Sally Beauty around me.  I wonder if they've already sold out.  :(  There were 3 colors I really wanted: Keep Calm, Paint On, Fancy Pants, and Dandy Lyin'.  I hope I can find them soon!

I've been seeing Barry M Gelly nail paint in Lychee on several different blogs, and have wanted it ever since. It looks like the perfect nude polish and I love the high-shine finish of the Gelly line.  I wish this had been available while I was in London in January, but I guess it's a new release as part of the Spring colors...?  I hope to get it somehow.  And that leads to my next lemming...

I really want a nail mail buddy!  I know it's a bit harder to mail international, but I'd prefer an international buddy because we'd be able to send polishes not available in our own country (for instance, Barry M ;P).  If you're interested in being my nail mail buddy, leave a comment below or email me at fairytalecharmblog [at] gmail [dot] com.  This will be my first time doing nail mail, and I'm quite excited!

Squarehue April 2013: Bloom Collection Swatches

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SquareHue is a nail polish subscription box, like Julep Maven, except everyone gets the same colors and the colors are limited edition.  They are exclusive to that month and you can't get those colors any other way except through that box.  The box is $21 per month and a portion of your subscription is donated through their HueGive program, which is currently focusing on human trafficking.  The donations go towards prevention awareness, protection of trafficked victims, and prosecution of human traffickers.

After seeing all the great March SquareHue boxes, I was really tempted to sign up...so I did.  So I have swatches of my first ever SquareHue box today!  When I saw the theme of this month's SquareHue box, I was expecting at least 1 pink polish, so it was quite surprising to find none when I opened the box.  Nevertheless, these colors are still very Spring-y!

Click for swatches. :)

SWATCH: L.A. Girl 3D Holographic - Purple Effect

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So here's swatches of the other L.A. Girl Holo that I got!  Finally!

#nailartmar

I Bought This 

At the beginning of March, I decided to participate in a nail art challenge that was hosted by @californails on Instagram. I thought I'd share them here, so they can be all in one place!  And so I can tell you a little bit about how I created them.

This is a little bit image heavy, so I'm going to use a jump.  Click to see the nail art! :)