Tweet Special Deals: Stila, MAC, Coastal Scents & Benefit

Hi everyone! I've been quite busy lately with midterms and assignments and all (actually, im currently working on one but just taking a break ^_^) but i thought i'd let you all in on a few amazing upcoming deals and offers!


1. Stila cosmetics
Their friday happy hour offer starts now and best of all, Stila also has two amazing offers! For tomorrow only, all orders will receive free shipping and a free lip candy ($22 value) in one of three colors! Here are the codes:

Fruit Punch (code: FRUITPUNCH), Sugar Plum (code: SUGARPLUM) or Brown Sugar (code: BROWNSUGAR)

Click to start shopping!
Stila Friday Happy Hour - Trick or Treat! Free Lip Candy and Free Shipping!


2. MAC Cosmetics Canada

To celebrate their new collection - A Tartan Tale - MAC is offering free standard shipping with any purchase. Use code MACGIFT. Offer valid until midnight Oct 31, 2010. Plus, if you spend $90 or more, you will receive A Tartan Tale, MAC fantastical holiday printed story for free! No offer code neccessary.

Click to start shopping!

3. Coastal Scents
Enjoy $5 off any purchase when you spend $25, take $10 off any purchase when you spend $50 and $20 off any purchase when you spend $100 or more. As National Breast Cancer awareness month comes to a close, they are offering their Think Pink 12 piece palette with rose petal inspired shades. Plus, they are also bringing back the Think Pink Brush Set! Im thinking of getting the brush set... what do you think?

4. Benefit - Trick or Treat

Clicking treat will get you: a free full sized pocket pal (their lip/cheek stain and clear gloss) with $50 purchase. Enter SPOOKY10 at checkout.

Clicking trick will show you she laq and magic ink.. unfortuantely, i dont see any offers with these two products.

And thats it.. at least for now! If i find any more exciting offers i will let you all know asap :) Happy shopping!! (i hope i dont get pulled into buying the pink brush set from coastal scents... i have more brushes than i need, but.. it just looks so pretty!!! ><)

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Tweet New Find: Sedona Lace + 88 Shimmer Palette

Before I start this review, i would like to introduce all of you to a wonderful company called Sedona Lace. I have just recently stumbled upon this company, became quite interested and decided to follow them on facebook & twitter. During my most intense week of finals, i got the biggest surprise ever! Turns out, i ended up winning an 88 Shimmer Palette from Sedona Lace!! I was beyond shock and was truly so happy :) That was the first time I had ever won something and I wouldnt forget it. (Actually, i was quite lucky that week as i also won a few other items from some lovely amazing bloggers! I will do separate posts on these generous bloggers when the time comes, i hope you will all visit them when i do!)

Anyways, back on track.. so i received this in the mail a few days ago and it looks amazing... 

Firstly, i really have to compliment Sedona Lace. They're packaging is absolutely amazing! I came home to this HUGE box and was not expecting it to be from Sedona Lace. (I thought it was my ELF haul at first because it was that big!) When i opened it up, i came face to face with the huge bubble wrap again!! (which i had previously seen during my coastal scents haul hehe) i LOVe this bubble wrap haha, not only does it keep your product completely safe, but its also really fun to play with :p

The package i came home to :D HUGE box + bubble wrap!

Not only was there tons of bubble wrap in the box, but Sedona Lace also took the time to bubble wrap inside! (pretty much everything was bubble wrapped! :D) After taking the palette out of the black box it came in, there were more bubble wrap and even some Saran-wrap on both sides of the palette keeping it 100% scratch free :) definately have to give Sedona Lace a HUGE two-thumbs up for their packaging!

Here are some pictures of the palette itself:

Of course, when i first saw these products, i thought about Coastal Scents right away. However, i think there are slight differences.. so heres a little comparison to my Coastal Scents palette. (88 Metal Mania)

Firstly, the packaging of the palette is slightly different. While Coastal Scents has their company name & the name of the palette on the front, Sedona Lace does not. Also, the coastal scents palette is a matte finish while the Sedona Lace has a glossy finish. At first, i thought Sedona Lace would be more prone to fingerprints, but actually.. they're both equally prone to fingerprints haha. Overall for outside packaging, i would say that i do personally like how coastal scents has the name of the palette on the front as it makes it much easier to reach for.

Sedona Lace on top & Coastal Scents on the bottom

However, once we open up the palettes.. i'd have to say i definately like Sedona Lace's packaging better. Theres not a huge difference, both have a wide mirror and two applicators. (Sedona Lace's applicator being slightly more pointy than coastal scents) I'd ask you to guess which is which but considering i dont have the same color palettes.. that's obviously not going to work :p

Sedona Lace on left & Coastal Scents on right

The biggest difference for me, is the arrangement of eyeshadows near the bottom center. You might not notice at first, but Coastal Scents actually squishes in about 4 eyeshadows so that they are much closer aligned in order to make room for the closing latch. However, Sedona Lace has changed up the packaging a bit therefore allowing all shadows to be perfectly aligned. Of course, you're not missing out on any product in either case, but in my personal opinion, i just think the Sedona Lace one looks better.. i like my stuff to be organized :)

Coastal Scents on left and Sedona Lace on right

 I didnt do full swatches of Sedona Lace just yet (as you might know from the past, i swatched all 88 colors from the Coastal Scents Metal Mania palette and that took me quite a while!) but i quickly scanned the two palettes and chose two colors that seemed quite similar. Swatching these, i found that they are both equally pigmented and both very soft. Andd.. you know how some eyeshadows just rub right off your hand after you swatch them? well these dont. i rubbed them a bit to see howd they do, and they faded a bit but still held their color. So overall, both companies have very good eyeshadows!

Sedona Lace on left, Coastal Scents on right

Overall Verdict: For outer packaging, i'd have to go with Coastal Scents as i do like how they have the palette names on the front. However, for inner packaging, i would 100% go with Sedona Lace as everything seems more spaced out and organized. As for the actual product itself, i think both companies are equally good in providing beautiful, pigmented eyeshadows. So really, it all comes down to the packaging and what you prefer. I am super super happy with this product. The colors are gorgeous and there are tons of prettty shimmery colors to play with!

Update: I used the palette this morning and am super impressed! I chose to use a lighter pink to highlight inside, a darker coraly pink in the middle and a grey on the outer corners to create more depth and a light smokey look. LOVED the result :) Will try to get pictures up for a separate post but i cant seem to find good lighting so the colors keep getting washed out... hmmm =/

About Sedona Lace: Sedona Lace is a Cosmetic company that was established in 2009, this young company is up growing and out competing with huge industries. (taken from their twitter/facebook bio). 

I would like to note that i am not being paid nor was i sponsored by Sedona Lace in any possible way. I won this palette from one of their many giveaways fair and square and this review is my personal and honest opinion of both the product & the company. However, if you are interested in Sedona Lace, you can find their website here. I also highly recommend that you either become a fan on facebook, or follow them on twitter because they host TONS of giveaways and there are good chances you can become a lucky winner like i did!

I hope you all enjoyed todays post! have you tried out Sedona Lace? or would like to? Let me know :) Also, let me know if you'd like me to swatch all 88 colors. if any of you are interested, i would be more than happy to swatch them, but i cant promise it'll be up just yet!

Update: I did get an email back from Sedona Lace's Promotions Manager saying:
"it's not the same manufacture- same idea tho lol" and "sorry for sending one without logo and ingredients and all that. This was probably a stash we had from our first huge shipment". So the future ones should contain logo and ingredients list :) hope this helps!

Tweet Coastal Scents 26 Shadow and Blush Combo Palette Swatches & Review

So finally, here are the swatches for Coastal Scents 26 shadow and blush combo palette! Dont forget, you can click on the picture to see a bigger and better view of the swatches! :)

full palette view

Swatches of the first two rows

Close up view of the first two rows

extreme close up. i love that coral-y colour on the right ♥  gorgeous!

Bottom two rows - eyeshadow and blush

Close up view of bottom two rows

What they say:

Superb colors in a mix of shimmer, pearl and matte! This 26 pc combo set contains colors in nearly nude, to browns, taupes, peaches, pinks, rose and rich deep plums. We do not offer another color palette that can compare to this one in shades.

The first 3 blush shades from the left are matte, the 4th has shimmer and the last deep plum has a slight shimmer effect. I have actually used a few of the shadows as a blush with great results.
The color payoff is incredible and they blend well creating very alluring looks from deep and sexy to light and ready for office day wear.

The Eyeshadow's pans measure 1" in diameter or 2.5 cm, There are 21 of them

The Blush pans measure 1 3/8" in diameter or 3.5cm, there are 5 of them.

This is only available in a Matte Black Case, case measures 9" x 6"
Palette Ingredient Weight 52.0g/1.83oz

Ingredients:
Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Kaolin, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Stearate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Lanolin, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, BHT. May contain: Mica and titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ultramarine Blue, Manganese Violet, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Chrome Oxide Greens, Chrome Hydroxide Green, FD&C Red No.40 AlLake, FD&C Yellow No.5 Al Lake, FD&C blue No.1 Al Lake.

For more information, visit Coastal Scents!

My take:
I love this palette. The colours are beautiful and super pigmented. Although there are still a variety of neutral tones and colours, they have added some beautiful golds, taupes, mauves and corals. I especially love the corals! They are beautiful and i think they will make for great summer looks! I think there is a good mix between shimmer and matte and by having both in the same palette, it really gives you great versatality in choosing whether you want a neutral everyday look or a shimmery night time look. The blushes are pretty and so much more pigmented then any i've ever used! the swatches do seem a bit scary, but if applied with a light hand and blended well, they are just gorgeous! The dark plum blush however, seem a bit too dark for me for everyday wear.. but i think it'll make a good blush for nights out :) andd.. the lightest blush is too light for me.. but i think i'll use it to mix with to get the desired color and tone i want. :)

Overall, i really like this palette! Although i know i say i love all of my palettes (which i do!), i think this one is most suitable for travelling because it includes both eyeshadows and blushes. :) have you guys tried out this palette before? what do you think of the colours?


xAgnes

Tweet Coastal Scents Gel Liner Swatch & Review

As you guys know, i purchased Coastal Scents gel liner in deep plum awhile ago along with my palettes. Here are the swatches and the review! :)

Gel liner in deep plum

Swatch with flash

Swatch with no flash

So far, i really like this! the texture is smooth and creamy, and applies very easily with the bent liner brush. The colour was a bit brighter than i expected (i thought itd be a deeper purple colour) but i like it.. its great for a different look and the purple makes your eye whites appear whiter. :) Heres what it looks like when applied..

Ingredients:
Isododecane, Polyethylene, Trimethylsilocysilicate, Cyclomethicone, Ozokerite, Ploymethylsilsesquioxane, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Tocopheryl Acetate, Lecithin, Propylparaben, BHT. May contain: Mica and Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Ultramarine Blue, Ca Lake, FD&C Blue No.1 Al Lake, D&C Black No.2.
Net wt.: 3g/0.11oz


My take:
Overall, i am really liking this gel liner! the colour is vibrant and applies very smoothly. In the picture above, i did not set with a eyeshadow and still.. it lasted me the whole day with some slight smudging. and for the price of $6.95, its definately worth it! (considering even maybelline's gel liner sells for around $10 at drugstores) The only thing for me.. would be the shipping cost. Because i live in canada, shipping costs are often higher than i want.. but my recommendation would be to sign up for Coastal Scents newsletter so you know when the products you want go on sale! :D

Some close ups of the bent liner brush.. sorry, i forgot to take pictures before swatching!

Also, the bent liner brush is great for applying this. The white bristles are softer than i expected but is still able to provide precise application of the gel liner. Im going back and forth between using this and an angled brush for applying my gel liners! Have you guys tried out Coastal Scents gel liners? I think they're amazing and cant wait till the next sale so i can pick up some more colours!

 xAgnes


Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any companies and any of the above products mentioned were all purchased by me with my own money, or given to me from family and friends. All reviews are from my personal experience and what works for me may not work for you. Please keep this in mind when testing these products.

Tweet Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Swatches & Review Part 3

Finally! i have swatched all 88 colours from the 88 Metal Mania palette! :) Sorry about the delay but here are the swatches of the final three rows. Once again, if you havent seen the previous swatches, you can find the first three rows here, and the next two rows (3&4) here. I'll post the picture of the whole palette just one last time for reference:

and here are the swatches for the last three rows! can you see all of the pinks, mauves and corals? beautiful! :)

final three rows :)

close up of left side

close up of right side

I have to say, out of all the rows, these last ones were the most impressive, mainly because they were so much more colourful! As you can see, there are a lot more pinks.. ranging from a bright hot pink (as shown in the last picture), to a berry pink. (last picture as well) Out of all the pinks, i think these two are my favourite! Also, you can see more mauvey-purples, and of course, the bright coral colours! There is a beautiful vibrant coral colour on the very last row which would make a gorgeous lipstick colour! as for an eyeshadow... i will have to test it out and see! :)

Overall, i really like this palette! To let you guys know in advance, (although im sure you know already) all the eyeshadows do have a shimmery finish. so this palette would be better for more dramatic, going out late nights etc. However, because there are a lot of workable browns and taupes, this would also be great if you tend to wear more eyeshadow on a daily basis. For neutral girls who just like to stick to matte brown shades, i'd recommend the 26 piece neutral palette. (or i have one from Artistik Cosmetics which is pretty much identical, swatches can be found here) I really like how there is a lot more variety in this palette without having overly bright colours like the other 88 palettes. I dont use bright eyeshadows that often so this palette is much better for me to try out some fun shades without having to waste half of the colours. What do you guys think? Love it? or leave it? Let me know! :)

xAgnes

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any companies and any of the above products mentioned were all purchased by me with my own money, or given to me from family and friends. All reviews are from my personal experience and what works for me may not work for you. Please keep this in mind when testing these products.

Tweet Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Swatches & Review Part 2

Here are the swatches for row 4 & 5 from the Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania palette! If you havent seen my previous swatches for the first three rows, click here to see it now! For reference, here is the palette again:

And now for the swatches!

 

Rows 4 and 5

Close up of the left side

and of the right side

and a middle shot in case some of the colours got lost :)

How are you guys finding these so far? There are definately lots more orange tones in these two rows and some olive colours as well. The one that stood out to me the most was that bright orange one best pictured in "close up of the left side". its gorgeous and just has summer written all over it! :) The final swatches will be up shortly so you guys can finally get the whole palette! sorry i had to split it up, but i just didnt have time. plus, i didnt want to bombard you guys with a huge page of pictures! :)

xAgnes

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any companies and any of the above products mentioned were all purchased by me with my own money, or given to me from family and friends. All reviews are from my personal experience and what works for me may not work for you. Please keep this in mind when testing these products.

Tweet Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Swatches & Review Part 1

Im sure you're all waiting for those Coastal Scents swatches! and i promise, i will finish them shortly! But because of school and other reasons (such as my arm becoming too shimmery and tinted from all the eyeshadow swatching to continue lol), i must spread out the swatching over the next week or so. But dont worry, they will be up i promise! heres another look at the whole palette so you can get an idea of the colours.

 

Just to start you guys off.. here are the swatches for the first 3 rows for the Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Palette. The rest will come very soon!

The first 3 rows with flash

better view of the 3rd row

Close up of colours from 3rd row. i love these ones!

Close up view of the left side...

and the right side :)

So far, i am really loving this palette! Its got tons of gorgeous shimmery colours and with some creativity and imagination, you can mix and make any look you want! The eyeshadows i have swatched so far are all very pigmented, they apply smoothly and look amazing. I noticed that there are quite a few lighter shades, which is great for highlighting.. but they are so similar that i can probably see myself neglecting quite a few of these :( andd. some of them apply a little bit chalky... but! on the other hand, i was very happy to see more variety in the colours as i am slowly seeing more pinks, golds, corals etc. From the look of the palette, there are MANY more pinks and corals to come.. along with some greens and blues! Cant wait to swatch those and i will update once i do :) Sorry for the wait!

xAgnes

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any companies and any of the above products mentioned were all purchased by me with my own money, or given to me from family and friends. All reviews are from my personal experience and what works for me may not work for you. Please keep this in mind when testing these products.

Tweet Coastal Scents Haul!

Yay! My Coastal Scents package is finally here :) I got these during the 15% sale they had recently and have been waiting for them to arrive! Heres some pictures..

And although im sure you girls have received Coastal Scents packages before.. (im a bit late to catch on..) but i have to have to say.. I LOVE THE BUBBLE PACKAGING! hahaha it is HUGE! so dont worry, theres definately plenty of protection for your palettes :)

Look at the size of those bubbles! :D

And now.. i'll show in detail what i purchased :) I am super excited about this and will definately try to post up swatches as soon as i can!

My two coastal scents palettes :)

Firstly, i picked up the 88 metal mania palette. Although each shadow is probably the size of a dime, there are so many colours and they all look gorgeous! Cant wait to swatch these :) Here's some pictures:

88 Metal Mania with no flash

 

88 Metal Mania with flash

And of course, the 26 Shadow blush combo palette:

26 Shadow blush combo with no flash

26 Shadow blush combo with flash

I also picked up a gel liner in deep plum, a bent liner brush, and some empty 5 gram packaging jars. These came wrapped up beautifully with pink tissue paper! Super cute :)

Some more pictures of the gel liner and brush up close...

And the funny thing was.. the bent liner brush had "c217 bent lner" etched in the side. Im not sure if this was a mistake or its supposed to be like that, but i found it quite interesting :)

And the lovely people at Coastal Scents included a sample of their Frenzy Shadow! Thank youu :)

So thats it for my Coastal Scents Haul! I will be playing around with these once i have the time and will post swatches and more EOTD (Eye of the day) as soon as i do! Hope your day went well! I love receiving packages in the mail, how about you guys?

xAgnes

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any companies and any of the above products mentioned were all purchased by me with my own money, or given to me from family and friends. All reviews are from my personal experience and what works for me may not work for you. Please keep this in mind when testing these products.