Playing catch-up & new stuff

So.... I have been slacking on my blog again. That tends to happen from time to time. I am back though, and with several updates!

As you may or may not already know I have started a Youtube channel to compliment this blog. I will be trying to put out a different video at least once a week. I already have several up right now, so please check them out and give me some feedback. I put a lot of work into them- although you'd never know it from how amateurish my videos are lol. I am terribly awkward on camera so don't expect me to be talking much :P

(And then there is *this*. I (obviously) didn't make this video, but it is noteworthy to say the very least LOL. Thanks Celeste & the fabulously hairy Dancing Dror! )

I plan to focus a lot on Halloween makeup through the end of October, but I definitely will be doing some makeup looks for fall soon as well. I am fairly new to making videos so bear with me while I learn and (hopefully) improve on my skills. If you have special requests for ANY sort of tutorial please let me know in the comments! I will also be doing more natural skin treatments/masks just because I think they are fun :)

I do want to briefly touch upon the other 2 non-makeup related videos on my YT account for those who were wondering. I made these videos (along with 2 other ones that are no longer public) awhile ago because I wanted to address an extremely sad large scale animal hoarding situation. I have received some backlash for these videos however I feel they serve a greater good so they will remain on my channel for the time being. I had considered just making a whole new channel for the glitter blog but I didn't want to have to resubscribe to everyone's beauty channels. I made these videos because I have done cat rescue for several years and just think it is important to give a voice to those who have none. I probably won't be putting many more videos like this up though so it's not really anything you guys need to worry about too much. If you are interested in Caboodle Ranch, why it's a bad place, and animal hoarding please check out these links: Caboodle Ranch: save the kitties, ASPCA Facts about Hoarding


Other than YT and Halloween excitement, I am also now a promoter for a wonderful indie boutique- Abigail's Boutique Designs. ABD offers a wide variety of amazing mineral pigment shades ranging from subtle and sparkling to the bright and bold. They are all unique hand mixed pigments made with high quality ingredients. I'll be putting up a review later with some swatches, so I'll save the rest of  my praise for that post :P Here is a sneak peek at some of the beautiful colors for you though.

which one is your favorite???

Abigail's Boutique Designs also offers many other things such as bath & body products, cute clippies and bows, soy candles, and many other things for you OR your little princess. How cool is that? Check out Robyn's facebook fan page & Blog for more information, news, and contests/giveaways.



That's my news for now! Stay tuned for some reviews comin' up here soon.

Shimmery for Summer: E.l.f Mineral eyeshadows & studio shimmer pallet

In May, E.l.f. ran an amazing sale where if you spent $25 you could get 10 of their mineral eyeshadows for free. I couldn't pass it up. I have used many e.l.f. products in the past but hadn't tried any of their mineral products yet. I also picked up their mineral eyeshadow primer, and some of the new mineral brushes. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to just try it all out.

The 10 eyeshadow colors I went with were (in order of swatch): Angelic, Flirty, Glamorous, Golden, Beachy, Outdoorsy, Celebrity, Elegant, Trendy, and Sassy. 

Angelic is a sparkly ivory. It is a true ivory, and therefore isn't a bright white. It didn't photograph real well, but it does go on well and is decently pigmented. It is also super shimmery.

Flirty was one of the shades I am disappointed with. It looks a little brighter in the container than it actually applies. It's kind of a dull, dusty medium purple shade. It's not well pigmented and I felt that I really had to work at it to build decent color coverage. Your best bet is to use this one wet.

Glamorous is a pretty rusty wine color. For the most part it's pretty matte with just a hint of mica. I really liked this shade as it applies very well. It's decently pigmented whether you choose to use it wet or dry.

Golden is just your traditional molten gold color. It's sooo sparkly and pretty! I got really bold color without having to use this wet. This was one of my favorite shades out of the 10.

Beachy is the one I'm on the fence about. When applied dry it's totally dull and drab. Use it wet? It's a completely different color! In the swatch I made a line down the center where I moistened it to show the difference. When dry it's a dark navy....moist it's a shimmer filled electric blue.

Outdoorsy is a sparkly deep forest green. It looks straight up black when applied. I don't know why that is. I don't dislike the color, but it wasn't at all what I expected it to be. I think Outdoorsy is the most versatile of the whole bunch because the deepness of the shade depends on how well you blend it and what other colors you use in combination with it.

Celebrity is a shimmery pale bronze/taupe. I think this one works nice as a highlight, and I love it in combination with the similar shades (elegant & trendy).

Elegant was the one I thought sucked. It's a very pale shimmery nude shade that's similar to Celebrity and Trendy but just doesn't have the same color payoff at all. I had to apply twice as much Elegant to get it to even show up in the swatch. I don't think it's any better used wet either unfortunately.

Trendy is a champagne shimmer. It goes on much better than Elegant lol. I really liked this one actually.

Last but not least...Sassy, a sienna brown with lots of shimmer. I just love this one. It's super pigmented, but applies well and blends great. It's not the most exciting color by itself but it goes with so many other shades perfectly. I've probably been using this one the most out of all 10.

Would you ever guess that outdoorsy is supposed to be green?!

Sassy, Glamorous, Elegant, Angelic, Celebrity

Not a great shot but you get the point

Outdoorsy, Angelic, Trendy, Celebrity

Also wearing e.l.f. shimmering whip in Spotlight, color stick in Golden Peach, and lip color in Charming

I also picked up the E.l.f. studio shimmer pallet. I had been reading a lot of mixed reviews on it by beauty bloggers, but not enough to scare me away from buying it! LOL. I guess the main complaint was that when applied all the shades appear very similar. Some people said they couldn't even tell the difference between any of the 4 shades when they were actually on skin.

They are pretty close in color on skin, but I can tell the difference no problem. I think it really depends on how you use them. I like to use the 2nd & 3rd colors in combination with the e.l.f. Golden Peach all-over color stick. My only complaint about these shimmers is the silly little brush it comes with. This stuff is MUCH too soft to use with that sort of brush, and is really intended to be applied with the fingers.


All in all I was generally pleased with my little E.l.f haul. I do think some of their mineral eyeshadow shades are a hit or miss though. That's kinda how I feel about a lot of the makeup e.l.f. makes. Some things I just can't live without while others I can definitely live with skipping. I plan to pick up some of their mineral lipsticks next and take those for a test drive ;)

Until next time
~Kaitlyn