Heath Ceramics, San Francisco

Us at Heath Ceramics
 Enjoying coffee on the weekends at Heath Ceramics.  They serve Blue Bottle Coffee here and are dog friendly.   One of our favorite post-brunch stops.

T-shirt: Rolling Stones Concert T; Sweatshirt: Lululemon; Rag & Bone Miramar Jeans found here; Sunglasses: H&M.

Lips: Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in F-Bomb.

Heath in many forms.

Miss Porkbun.  A cute Frenchie we met on the street.

Hello Kitty by Sephora - Say Hello Eyeshadow and Lipgloss Palette in Super Fun - Swatches and Review

 Say hi to Say Hello Palette from Hello Kitty by Sephora!

If you saw our First Look at some products from the Hello Kitty by Sephora line, you have probably been tapping your foot waiting for me to swatch this palette.  I really wanted to give it a thorough road test before I brought it back to you guys.  I didn't want my opinion to only be based on the good looks of this palette.  So.. with that let's begin.

Say hi to Hello Kitty by Sephora's Say Hello Palette in Super Fun.  The palette consists of two layers, 1 mirrored, holding four eyeshadows and four lipglosses, all in an absolutely adorable pearl/metallic case resembling that icon snowball-head cat, HK.  Being burned by a lot of the products from the Toki Doki line, I swore that I wouldn't be overloaded by the cuteness from just packaging again.  My experience so far has been mixed on collaborations of non-cosmetics company collaborations with Sephora (e.g. Toki Doki, Kat von D, etc).  I wasn't sure how these products would measure up as a cosmetics line vs. just a pretty package.  If anything, I think I may have judged this line with a little bit of extra scrutiny.  It's not fair to get away with good looks alone, right?!

Let's see if this line has anything to back up that pretty little kitty face....


 
Adorable silver bow on HK.  She has a beautiful opal glow!

 The shades.  Super Fun colors according to the label! 

 Eyeshadows (clockwise starting with upper left): Sugar Plum, Sweet Plum, Goodnight Dreams, Raindrop.

 
Swatched dry, no base.  Left to right: Sugar Plum, Sweet Plum, Goodnight Dreams, Raindrop. 
 
Swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion original.  Left to right: Sugar Plum, Sweet Plum, Goodnight Dreams, Raindrop. 

I guess "Super Fun" translates into cool purple, silver and sparkley black shades in Hello Kitty's world.  lol  I actually thought that these shades were really complimentary, and they looked great on the eye together and alone.  I created looks with all four and also with only using two.  I wasn't expecting much in the way of pigmentation, but I think that they delivered well over an eyeshadow primer, nice surprise!  The black shade, Goodnight Dreams, was surprisingly very, very carbon black.  However, a big downfall was the texture.  Chalky and dry.  The texture wasn't the worst, but I experienced a lot of fall out during application, which is always a hassle. 

Lipglosses (clockwise starting with upper left): Snowflake, Strawberry Cookie, Sweet Plum, Pink Confetti.

 Left to right: Snowflake, Strawberry Cookie, Pink Confetti, Sweet Plum.
The lipglosses left a lot to be desired.  They were all extremely sheer, and once applied on the lips, looked very similar.  Also without applicators, you will have to use your own lipbrush (or finger) to apply. 
It could just be nostalgia, but these glosses have somewhat of a strong fragrance.  To me they have that classic Sanrio lip product scent.  I remember begging my parents for a tube of what was basically chapstick with Little Twin Stars logo printed on it, and it smelled exactly like this.  I personally don't find the scent offensive or distracting, but I could see someone not being a fan of the lip portion of this palette for this reason.  The scent to me was always a mix of wax, rose and candy.  It wasn't really something that I wanted to taste on my lips.  The Say Hello Palette's glosses' scent fades over time, but some may still not like this aspect.  If you are sensitive to scents in lip products, make sure to see (sniff) this in person.

If you missed the VIB pre-sale, don't worry... Hello Kitty is almost at Sephora stores.  Sign up on Sephora's site for updates on the exact day this line will be launched. 

To Review:
Hello Kitty by Sephora Say Hello Eyeshadow and Lipgloss Palette in Super Fun - $35 for 4 x  2g, 0.07oz eyeshadows, 4 x  2g, 0.07oz lipglosses.  Available at Sephora mid-January. 
Pro: Ah-door-rah-bull packaging.  Pigmentation better than expected on eyeshadows, but still leaves something to be desired.  Pretty and complimentary shades.
Con: Fragrance of lipglosses (personal bias).  Extremely sheer finish on lipglosses.  Fallout from eyeshadows.  No applicators.
Overall Beautyburg Rating: B 
(Might have been a B- if it weren't for the "looks." haha)

Do you think better packaged products get away with more?  When does design/packaging become not as important as the product? Do you have any items from the this line you want to check out?

Do you have a Sanrio character you would like to see with a makeup line or product?  I want to see Badtz Maru eyeliner, Deery Lou (did you know he's a GUY?) mascara, Purin body lotion, My Melody blush and Tuxedo Sam anything, he's a favorite.

Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume III - UD Hearts NYC - Swatches and Review - Holiday Gift Guide

 Urban Decay Loves NYC as much as me!

Another product to consider for our Holiday Gift Guide is Urban Decay's third rendition of highly popular, limited edition Book of Shadows series.  Last year's Alice BOS (Book of Shadows), still shows up on Ebay for x3+ it's original retail price.  This year's version is still readily available, though probably not forever.

I was really impressed with the quality of these shadows.  Not a gritty or dry shadow in the bunch.  All applied very smoothly with great pigmentation (yes, even the ones with chunky glitter).  The pencils and PP (Primer Potion) are classics and will be used up probably before you get close to hitting the pan on any of these shadows.

This would be a great kit for someone who loves vibrant colors.  Not for someone looking for a "neutral" kit, obviously. 

My only complaint about this palette is that I wish they had altered some of the shadow names to be more about NYC (as they did with Alice).  I just think it adds to the theme... but that's no biggie.

This set contains:
16 x 0.03 oz uber pigmented eyeshadows (see swatches below, 7 shades are new)
2 x 0.03 oz 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils
0.13 oz Mini Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original

$54 available at Sephora, Ulta, UrbanDecay.com






Zero and Ransom


What combinations would you put together?
Any colors that strike out at you?


To Review:
Pros: Excellent pigmentation.  The standard of texture has be up'ed a few levels. Go-to pencils and eyeshadow primer. Super cute illustrations and packaging design.
Cons: No NYC-themed names.

Overall Rating: A

CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER!!!


Congrats to Halifax of Sparkled Beauty! You are the winner of our Urban Decay Book of Shadows III UD Hearts NYC Giveaway!

Thank you everyone for playing! We will be posting from NYC this week, so please look out for updates from the Big Apple.

Here are the answers to the Trivia questions that were worth extra entries! Follow me on Twitter for future contests!

1. Where was the orig location of Barneys and what's there now?
A. 17th and 7th Ave which is now home to Filene's Basement and BBB.

2. Where was NARS first sold when it launched?
A. Barneys (at the original location).

3. Which NYC dept store was the first to carry MAC in the US?
A. Henri Bendel's

Please join us for future contests. There is still time to enter our MAC Venomous Villians Giveaway which ends tomorrow!

ONE DAY GIVEAWAY CONTEST! Urban Decay Book of Shadows III UD Hearts NYC




Urban Decay loves NYC and so do I.... to celebrate my return to NYC next week, I will hosting a one day only giveaway contest. Please read the directions below. All entries must be in by 1:00pm PST October 15, 2010. The winner will be contacted via email (so make sure to leave your email). This is open to international friends. The prize will be mailed 10/25/10.












How to play:

1. Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite thing about NYC. (don't forget you email so I can contact you when you win).

Do step 1 and you are entered!! But to for ****MORE***** chances to win do the following:

2. Follow the blog (leave in your comment how you follow) - 1 extra entry

3. Follow me on Twitter. Click here. - 1 extra entry

4. Retweet this contest on Twitter. Post it on your Facebook. Blog about it! - 1 extra entry each

5. Follow me on Twitter and watch for trivia in the next 24 hours. Respond to me with correct answers for extra entries. You may be able to get up to ****TEN extra entries **** with a correct answer! (Either leave your answer in another comment, Direct Message me on Twitter or email me at beautyburg@gmail.com)

GOOD LUCK!!

p.s. Don't forget to enter our Venous Villains Giveaway! Ends 10/18/10. Click here to enter.