Handmade Reviews August giveaway

Happy Blog Anniversary, Fashion Maven!

The lovely Katie over the at the blog Fashion Maven is celebrating her blog anniversary! Go wish her an awesome blogiversary, and enter to win her giveaway!

http://fashionsmaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/blogiversary-giveaway.html

Indulge N' Spoil

So I came across a cute little online shop that carries skin care products, hair care products, and cosmetic brands such as M.A.C, Bath & Body Works, and teeth whitening products for a brighter and more beautiful smile! There is a pretty impressive selection of M.A.C items available (including highly sought after MSFs like "Blonde", "Brunette", "Petticoat" and "By Candlelight" for a few examples!). There is also a nice little selection of fluidline eyeliners and discontinued paint pots! The customer service is wonderful, Tommy (the shop owner) is awesome! The shop specializes in discontinued items, and for all of my fashionistas reading this...they also carry authentic COACH handbags!! Plus they offer FREE shipping within the USA.

Frostlite Fluidline Eyeliner
This gorgeous shimmery off-white cream eyeliner is now discontinued :( But it is available at Indulge N Spoil for less than you would find it on the popular online auction website, eBay! This eyeliner is so pretty, and it makes an excellent shimmery eyeshadow base to add a soft and pearly glow to any eyeshadow added on top. I love layering Shroom eyeshadow on top of Frostlite, the result is absolutely beautiful. You can blend MAC Frostlite on your browbone for a stunning highlight, and it works wonders on the inner corners of my eyes - instantly making me look more awake and refreshed! I also sometimes use Frostlite on my waterline to complement my brown eyes. I think this is a M.A.C Fluidline that everybody should have in their collection, because it is very versatile (just like M.A.C Vanilla pigment!). In fact, Frostlite is referred to as Vanilla pigment in a creamy formula according to the customer reviews on MakeupAlley.com!


Greenstroke Paint Pot
This product is no longer available at IndulgeNSpoil.com, and it is also discontinued by M.A.C. However, a little birdy told me that this paint pot is available at certain CCO's, so be sure to check out your local CCO for this beauty! It's a gorgeous pearly minty green. Minty greens look fabulous on nearly every eye color, and it contrasts beautifully against golden brown eyes. Everything about this paint pot is absolutely perfect; the texture, the formula, the longevity of wear, the color, everything! I fell in love with Taylor Swift's eye makeup in her "Teardrops On My Guitar" music video and searched high and low for a similar color and tried many different shades but could never find the perfect shade with the right texture/shimmery finish. This is IT. This is everything I was searching for, and I can't wait to do a "Teardrops On My Guitar" inspired look!

Here are some product swatches of these two products:

My Fit Beauty 100 followers - congrats!

The lovely Khristine from My Fit Beauty is having a giveaway to celebrate 100 blog followers:
http://www.myfitbeauty.com/2010/08/100-follower-mini-giveaway-on.html

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick Swatches (#42 #39 #28 #32 #29 #M1 #17)

I recently got a few new shades from the highly anticipated Rouge Artist Intense lipstick line from Make Up For Ever! So I wanted to share these products/swatches with my readers because I know that many of you have been looking for swatches! I previously reviewed three other shades (#21, #36, #43). You can find photos/swatches of those shades in my previous post. Here are the new shades!

Back row: #42, #39, #28

Front row: #32, #29, #M1, #17

L to R: #42, #39, #28, #32, #29, #M1, #17

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick swatches #21, #36, #43

I received these lipsticks less than 30 minutes ago, but I love them so much that I just *had* share swatches and publicly declare my love for them. Make Up For Ever never lets us down - releasing FIFTY shades of the new Rouge Artist intense lipstick formula! The color is saturated and gorgeous, the wear is very comfortable and very impressive as far as lasting power goes. Everything I love in a lipstick is present with Rouge Artist Intense! The swatches on my hand and lips were taken with flash, but the product photos were taken in natural light to give a better view of the actual color.

[ Top: #36 / Middle: #43 / Bottom: 21]

#21 (pearly bright red)
I love the pearly finish of this shade! It reminds me of M.A.C Port Red (one of my favorite discontinued shades), it's a gorgeous red with a slight metallic look that is extremely flattering! I can already see myself needing several back-ups of this shade!

#36 (satin fuschia)
I love brights, so one can only assume my excitement to see such a vibrant bright pink! I can't get over how comfortable these lipsticks feel! This is such an amazing pink, and I'm known for my bright pink or red lips so this shade is no exception. I knew I would love it when I saw it in the tube, and I loved it even more after I applied it.

#43 Moulin Rouge (satin vibrant red)
This shade is going to be part of the upcoming Fall 2010 Moulin Rouge collection (can't wait!). It's a very flattering red and looks great with my wavy red hair. Very Satine-esque. I love love love it. I could wear this shade everyday. That's how much I love it, and I think this shade would suit a wide array of skintones. And how cute is the packaging?!

Make Up For Ever once again continues to astound me. Keep up the AMAZING work!!!

Be sure to check out Rouge Artist Intense lipstick at Sephora!

-Ashley

Albanese Candy review - 12 Flavor Gummy Bears, Chocolate Gummy Bears, and Gummi Peach Rings

Look at this amazing assortment of yummy candies I got to try out recently. My blog *is* called Lipstick AND Candy after all ;) I have been hearing so many great things about Albanese Candy, home of the World's Best Gummies! I'm a huge fan of gummy candies, especially gummi bears. I recently tried out these treats from Albanese: Gummi Peach Rings, 12 Flavor Fruit Bears, and Chocolate Gummy Bears. They were soooo yummy. This picture does not do the candy justice, they might look fab, but they tasted even better.

The Gummi Peach Rings were my favorite! They were so fresh and soft and gummi. Not sticky, not too firm, not too mushy, just right. The rings are a yellow and orange color, with a very fruity fresh peach flavor, then coated with a layer of sugar. They are delish! Soooo yummy. I couldn't get over how fresh the candy was, so yummy, the bag did NOT last long ;) The cute little package that the candy came in was awesome too, it even had a freshness seal, so you can munch on the gummies and close the bag for later. IF the gummis last that long... :)

Next up I tried, the 12 Flavor Gummis. They offer fun flavors like Granny Smith Apple, Grapefruit, Concord Grape, Watermelon, and 8 other yummy flavors. The gummies were fresh and soft and yummy. Not "stale" or too hard like some gummy bears, these bears were moist and chewy and delicious. I also loved the bright colors, and the cute little details on the front of each gummy bear. I also thought the flavors were super cool, I've never had a banana flavored gummy bear...until now. It was hard to choose a favorite flavor, but I really liked Granny Smith Apple, Cherry, Orange and all of the rest. I shared this bag with my sister, since she adores gummies just as much as I do, and she thought they were really tasty too, and liked the Lime flavored gummies a lot.

I also tried the Chocolate Gummi Bears. Just for the record, I was already a huge fan of chocolate covered gummi bears, they are one of my favorite candies, so I was really excited about trying this variety. Usually Chocolate Gummies are hard to come by, either they taste bad because of low quality chocolate, or the gummi flavor is very artificial and the texture is too stale. This was NOT the case with the Albanese variety of chocolate gummi bears. These were SO good! In fact, these were the best chocolate covered gummi bears I've ever eaten. The soft chewy gummi bears were fresh and fruity, and the chocolate that covered the bear was creamy and yummy! It didn't taste like "mockolate", you know that fake chocolate coating used on most novelty candies. This chocolate tasted like the real thing! It's not a super thin layer of chocolate, it's a nice amount of chocolate coating the bear, not too much not too little, it's just right. These were so good! I could have eaten 3 more bags, if given the chance ;)

I definitely need to try more candies from the Albanese Candy Confectionery! You can check out their online store and order candy there, or find a local shop that may carry candies from the Albanese brand. They even have a factory in Indiana, where the company is based, where you can get a tour of the candy factory! So if you live in IN, you can even shop their candy outlet shops. They're also a family run company that has been in business for almost 30 years.

Check them out on Facebook - Albanese Candy or at Albaneseconfectionery.com


*I was provided with a sample of the products from Albanese Candy, however the opinions expressed in this review are my own!