CVS: Beauty 360

It looks like CVS is getting ready to step up their game big time with the opening of their Sephora – like addition called Beauty 360. The first store is slated to open in an East Coast city at the end of the year, with another store opening on the West Coast a few weeks later in early 2009.

To get the full scoop head on over to WWD Beauty. I personally am excited about this and I think it will be a great thing, especially for people who can’t always get to a Sephora.

FOTD: Aug 30th

This is my face for today. I was playing around at my vanity and I came up with this look. I normally wouldn’t post this, but this picture came out AMAZING! I had originally decided not to post my face on this blog, not because I don’t have my face on the internet, I have both a myspace and facebook with my picture on them. But I have never posted my face on an actual website before. So here is a first time for everything.

I’m not to do a tutorial or anything but I will tell what products I used. They are all NYX products.

Eyes:

Trio # 3 Nude all over lid up to brow bone

Trio #1 Black outer lid and crease, blended into Nude

Trio #2 Barely There as highlight blended into the crease

HIP Cream Liner in Black on upper lid and lower waterline

Lips:

Lip Pencil in Natural lined and filled in the lips completely

Mega Shine LipGloss in Crystal Soda

That is everything I used in creating this look. The lips are not actually that pink. They are more peachy / neutral than what they are showing in this picture.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed this little FOTD I’m quite proud of this look

Mad Minerals 20% Off Sale

Hey everyone  one of my fave brands, Mad Minerals is having a sale, you get 20% off any order $20 or more before shipping. I love this sale because I basically get enough taken off that shipping is just about free. Mad also has super, duper fast shipping, even during sales and you always get your products a couple of days after ordering.

The sale goes through Sept 3rd.

Mad Minerals

Rant: MAC – You Suck!

WAIT – Before you crucify me for saying something bad about the all mighty MAC I have good reasoning to say what I have said. MAC has royally SCREWED piggie lovers with their new collection of Overrich Pigments. When MAC fills their pigment jars, they do it by weight, not volume which is something that we all know and accept. Which makes it annoying to purchase one pigment to have it over flowing with makeup goodness and to have another one not filled to the brim.

In the past, this slight difference was small, but MAC has gone too far now. These new Overrich pigments are being sold in the same MAC jars for $19.50, the same price for all the pigments. HOWEVER the jars that are holding these new pigments are only being filled a little over HALF WAY!! How utterly fucked up is that? MAC is charging the full price for half the product. Instead of getting the entire 7.5 grams of piggie goodness, only 4.5 grams is being put into the jars. This means MAC is ripping people off for 3 grams of product.

TOTALLY. NOT. COOL.

When I went to the mall this past Tuesday I was super excited to look, play and purchase a few of the new piggies, I was surprised to see how much product was in the sample pigments. It looked like many people had been using and getting samples from all of the jars, except for Mauvement because that one was still basically full. The other ones were over halfway empty. I mentioned this to the MA that was working the counter and she told me that was how much came in the jars.

I refused to purchase ANY of the pigments after learning that. I already have a hard enough time spending $20+ on one makeup product, even if it is completely full. BUT THERE WAS NO WAY IN HELL that I was going to spend that amount on a jar that only had 1/2 of the product. I wouldn’t have such a big problem with these pigments, if MAC had been more upfront about these pigments and adjusted the prices and weight accordingly. I feel that by not in any way warning the consumer that there was such a vast difference of product, they were deceiving people on thinking they were getting more than they truly were.

Now it seems that many beauty junkies have complained to MAC about the pigments and on the MAC website the Overrich pigments are now listed as having the 4.5g of product. Even though this was the right move for MAC to cover their asses for the deception , the simple fact that people actually had to COMPLAIN about the products for them to do anything about it speaks volumes to me.

For a company that prides itself on its customer service and quality products this was a low blow to MAC fans everywhere. Will this stop me from purchasing the Overrich products? Yes. Will this stop me from purchasing MAC products in the future? Nope, because I just so happen to love the Christmas collections too much to say no to MAC forever.

Fortunately the Overrich pigments are not very unique in color and it would be very easy to find good dupes of all of these colors in other brands.

To My Gulf of Mexico Readers…

PLEASE STAY SAFE!!!! Many Weather sources are forecasting Hurricane Gustav to become the first major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Wilma in 2005. This is a truly terrifying storm and will bring a lot of destruction along with it. Gas prices have already been raised because of the storm.

So take care of your personal business and stay safe during this time. Possessions are replacable. Even the rare MAC products that you know you have stashed away. None of these things mean anything if you lose your life or a close one’s life because of Gustav.

Take care, and I hope to see you on the site and the forums soon

Alice Cosmetics

It seems like new mineral makeup companies pop up almost daily, so it can be a bit daunting when you are looking for a new company to try out. Well, today I’m bringing you a company that is worthy of being on your short list of companies to try.

I’m talking about Alice Cosmetics, which is a small, but worthwhile company that is run by the sweet and kind Patty Gray. When I first went to the site, the black and green layout really jumped out at me and it really reminded me of Elphaba from Wicked. Strange I know, but the colors are very Wicked . Which is a good thing in my opinion because Elphaba is very earthy and I think that she would get a kick out of seeing Alice Cosmetics. LOL.

Anyway, Alice Cosmetics carries an almost complete line of cosmetics, the only thing missing would be lippies, lip glosses and lip sticks. However, this is normal for new mineral makeup companies. So don’t hold this against Alice Cosmetics.

However, what Alice offers far exceeds what it is missing. Alice has offers the following

• 12 Foundation Shades
• 25 Different Eyeshadows
• 5 Eyeliners
• 6 Blushes / 3 Bronzers
• Mineral Mascara

….Plus a whole lot more!!

The samples I received came in a super cute green draw string baggie with a hand written message on the business card. The samples came in little square jars with black circle lids. Patty, went above and beyond with the samples, when she included a sample just because. It’s always a nice surprise to get something unexpected. The samples sizes are very generous, they look to me to be about 1/4th tsp, which is a size that isn’t offered that much anymore. While many companies are downsizing their samples making it hard to actually use the product more than once, Alice sticks by the old standard of giving enough product to actually try!

I plan on using these products over the next few days, and I hope to give you a very thorough review of each product, especially on the eyeshadows, which are always a favorite product of mine.

So while we wait for my reviews, head on over to Alice Cosmetics and check out what they offer! Their prices are affordable – they are on par with other major mineral makeup brands such as Mad Minerals and Aubrey Nicole. The site is also quite easy to navigate, on the home page, all the links are on the top of the page, but when you get into the store itself, the categories are broken down into separate links on the left side of the page.

Enjoy!!

Alice Cosmetics

PG Beauty Obsessions Forum is Running!

Hey, everyone! I have the forum up and running. It’s still a work in progress, but there is a NYX Forum now, along with forums for Higher End and Budget Beauty.

So head on over to the forums and start talking!

Phantom Goddess’s Beauty Obsessions Forums

Tell Me What You Want!!

Hey gals and guys, I am soooo sorry for the lack of posts, but I’ve been working really, really hard on my new site. I am desperate to get rid and away from Word Press. So please forgive me for being absent. I’m still answering questions, so if you have any questions or comments, leave me a comment or email me. I’ll answer you quickly!

So while you are waiting for me to get my crap together, can you guys answer this questionfor me? I’m thinking about adding a forum to my new site, and I want your guys opinions on it. I know this site is becoming quite popular with NYX lovers, so I think this forum might be a good place to talk about this brand and others.

So what do you think? Would a forum be a good idea or a bad one? Please give me your thoughts on this in the comments area!!

Total Beauty Web Tour

Check out the buzz from the beauty world with Total Beauty’s Web Tour!!

• Find out what yummy scented body souffle The Makeup Divas is all excited about.

• Monique at Beauty Girl Musings discovers it’s what’s on the inside that counts with Elizabeth Grant’s Vitamin C Body Lotion.
• Viva Woman tells you how John Masters Organics Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum & John Masters Organics Mandarin Maximum Moisture help to lighten up some of her pigmentation caused by sun damage.
• Beauty’s SPOT figures out that waxing and plucking may be a thing a of the past with the Artemis Woman Personal Groomer.
• Don’t forget to enter Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog free giveaway from MORE Magazine.
• Frappelattes gives L’Oreal’s new Bare Naturale Mineral Mascara a spin and lets us know how it delivers.
• Roselyn from Makeup Makes Me Happy counts down the 10 most wacky beauty tips, that actually work!. You may just be surprised to see what they are!
• Win a RisWallet from A Mom in Red High Heels. It’s a hands-free solution for a busy woman!
• Now is your last opportunity to win in the[comfort zone] giveaway at Fabulous Over Forty
• Beauty411 tells you about a product that will help you rewind lines and wrinkles. And it’s completely painless!
• Want a gorgeous tan without damaging your skin? Beauty Tyrant has found a summer must-have sunscreen that lets you enjoy the sun without worrying about your skin!
• Meredith at Daily Dose of Coffee offers up some tips on purchasing the perfect mascara for YOU.
• How to get your skin glowing like Beyonce-Talking Makeup!
• The Beauty Alchemist visits with Van Cleef and Arpels new Feerie perfume
• The girls over at Beauty in Real Life are at it again…check out their latest giveaways with Luzern Labs and Sanctuary Spas.
• Beauty Anonymous reveals her travel-friendly beauty goodies.
• To celebrate the kickoff of the new Hills season, Glossypink tells you how to score Whitney Port’s beautiful makeup.
• Product Girl is having a giveaway and you can enter to win Essie’s 6-piece fall collection. Good luck!
• Ah, Fall! Celebrate the peculiar and sexy scents of Autumn with Fifty-Cent Head and Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs.
• Find out what Beauty Blogging Junkie is using to hydrate her chlorine-ravaged locks here.

I hate you Word Press.

I. HATE. WORD. PRESS. So I am working right now on a new blog on blogger . I am getting the blog set up right now, and I will soon be moving all my posts over to Blogger. I will continue to post new material on this blog until I am ready to go to Blogger. I will not be deleting this blog – ever because it houses a lot of good information within its comments that many people will find helpful.

So be on the lookout for more news on this upcoming change.

Edit: Here is the address for the new site: pgbeauty.blogspot.com It’s not ready yet, but you can watch the progress with it.