30 Day YouTube Challenge - Day 9 - Milani Paint Eyeshadow Palette

365 Days of Lip Looks - Day 13 f. Milani Lip Flash In Flashy, MAC Currant liner, MAC Superglass Totally Bang!

Loved the color-hated the touching up...especially because I left the products at home :(

 My phone camera was acting up this morning but here is with flash...

 And without...in the bathroom at work...sorry these pics are blah - i will make up for it - promise!

Recents and Randoms as of Dec 20...

I often snap pics with my blackberry and save them in my file marked "blog" but then I forget they are there - as a reminder of all things (duh Shana) so because of that I now have to bombard you with updates real quick.  Here goes (brace yourself-lengthy and pic heavy):

MUA UPDATE!

Here I am with fellow DC MUA's for our first B.Y.O.B Event (Bring Your Own Brushes) We had such a great time that the next event was scheduled within a matter of days following us meeting.  Asia, Siccola, Nyoka and I spent the evening enjoying good food, good beverages and great MUA related topics.  Cant wait to see you ladies in a few weeks!  *hugs*

HAIR UPDATE!

Still growing strong!  Y'all know I love my loctician and whenever I go he has something new to share.  This time it was the "signature loc" process.  Ever wanted to color your locs but had the fear of damaging your hair?  Well fear no more!  The blondie loc in the front there was actually one that was about to break (dont ask) so he repaired it and then made it a signature loc.  My other signature locs are hot pink (go bold or go home right?)  Pics below will show them better though you can see one peeking in the back there.  In total I have five colored locs now. 

See?  Now 3 can be seen, the other two are in the back somewere - anywho this is me at the Secret Santa Girlfriend Gift Exchange 2010 Edition!  My friends and I have been doing this each year for, wow, maybe 10 years now, give or take.  Each year we pick names and exchange gifts after dinner.  This year we selected Eatonville on U Street.  Dont I look super happy for my Armani Exchange box?

Thats cause I WAS super happy!  I received an infinity/circle scarf (love these things - I have 3 now but I must get more, more I say!) and my new hot boots!  Werent even on my list but "santa" knew I had to part with my most fave OTK black boots and I was not happy.  Now I have new ones yay!

After the gift exchange we hit Tabaq for a birthday party and danced the pounds away!  We are missing one in this photo - she hates taking pics *smh*

HAUL UPDATES!

Picked up these NYX Lipsticks a few weeks ago.  I really wanted the dark one to be a dupe for MAC Cyber - yeah not so much and the red one was just whispering sweet nothings to me so I had to bring it home of course.  Penelope (dark) Snow White (red).

Milani sure knows how to make you do a double take.  I peeped these new Baked Marble Shadows and of course had to have them.  They can be used wet or dry.  I really wanted Rich Java to be a deep chocolate brown but it is more bronze and Blue My Mind while pretty can be easily duped, trust me I know...

Milani also has added to their glitter polish line.  I was able to get the gold one which after application is difficult to photograph but it gives a beautiful effect on the nail.  This result was achieved by packing the polish/glitter on as opposed to brushing it on as you would a normal nail polish.  If you go the routine route you will just push the chunks of glitter around and drive yourself insane in the process...

 Jessie's Girl haulage from Rite Aid...

 Swatch of Jessie's Girl polish - def needs to be packed on or layered...

 Swatches of Jessie's Girl Liquid Crystal Lip Gloss in Violet and Wicked

 Violet (top), Wicked (bottom)

 Didnt I say no more lip swatches???  yeah well I lied I guess...Wicked

Violet

ANOTHER MUA UPDATE!

One of my brides from earlier this year sent me this picture and wanted to thank me again for making her feel good on her wedding day.  She is definitely one of my most fav clients ever! 

My friend Dana had a military ball to attend a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could do her makeup for the event.  I did and here is the result:

Go Dana!

FOTDs!

The end...finally!

Clash of the Cosmetic Companies: Milani vs. MAC

Any beauty lover worth his/her weight in lipgloss has taken the time to search for more affordable options when it comes to beauty buys.  My beauty blogging buddies - Nikkia, Kerris, Kia, Toni P., Tia and Yannize (aka BBM Divas) spend countless amounts of blackberry airtime trying to decide if the latest collection is worth a splurge or contains a dupeable item. 

Well recently we came across a gem by way of Milani cosmetics-Milani Lip Flash.  As many of you are already aware MAC released their Dare to Wear Collection to much excitement.  I cant lie the lip products are indeed gorgeous and I happen to own 4 of them (3 lipglass, 1 lipstick) so imagine my surprise when we discovered that the Milani Lip Flash pencils were a strikingly close dupe of these.  I believe I paid maybe $5 if that for them and come on $5 vs $18 is a no brainer (though I had already paid for the MAC ones but that is besides the point people!)  Here are some comparison swatches:

 Above is the display at CVS.

These are the Lip Flash swatches (the sorta clear swatch in the first photo is not Lip Flash BTW)

These are the Dare to Wear swatches.

Now I know one is a gloss and the other is a pencil but seriously once the gloss sets it is the same consistency and feel as the pencils in my opinion.  I would even go as far to say that the pencils aren't as drying to the lips.  Now before the MAC maniacs come for me, I love MAC just as much as the next person but that is honestly my opinion.  Just about everything else is comparable - color pay off, wearability, sparkle factor - yep its all there. 

I haven't been able to locate the Lip Flash pencils on the Milani site but they have been in every CVS I have been in over the past few months from DC, to LA to Miami so be sure to check them out.