Deborah Lippmann True Blood - Bad Things Mini Nail Lacquer Set

Earlier we looked at the first of the Deborah Lippmann True Blood nail sets, the duo that was designed for Sookie Stackhouse and contained a great neutral hue and a pretty shimmer top coat.  The second of the polish sets is much more dramatic and is more inspired by the vampires in the TV and book series and therefore contains the shades that would be worn at Fangtasia (the vampire bar in the series).  I love both of the sets and I already know that I now want to order both of them!

I still have only found these sets on the Nordstrom website so all of my information on the set and the color descriptions are from this website.  The Bad Things set contains three smaller-sized polishes,  a fact that makes me really excited.  Deborah Lippmann completely got it right here; the larger sized nail polishes are the more neutral hues that I would use all the time and the small sizes are the shades that I would only use a few times during the season.  I always go through my pale and neutral polishes very quickly and am always replacing these bottles, I just love how Deborah did the sizing of the shades as they are pretty much perfect for me!  I really want both of these sets now since I know that I will get tons of use from both of them all year long.

An overall product description, "HBO® and Deborah Lippmann introduce Bad Things, a trio of mini nail lacquers inspired by the award-winning series, True Blood®."  This nail polish set contains the following three shades...

- Bad Blood: a sheer black cherry, inspired by the ever-so-sultry Pam
- Strange Love: a vampy magenta, capturing the character of red-headed Jessica
- New Flesh: a Sookie-inspired, clean nude

Bad Blood is the shade that I am most excited about and not just because Pam is my favorite character in both the books and the TV series.  I love Lippmann's Just Walk Away Renee and this shade looks a sheer version of that super-pigmented red hue.  This is one of my favorite manicure and pedicure shades in the fall and winter and I would love to add another hue like this to my collection.  I actually wish that this shade would be available in the full size as I bet that I will really use it over the next few months!  Strange Love is a nice shade but I don't know how much use I will get from it, good thing that this is small size.  I know that I will New Flesh like crazy since I love Lippmann nude hues and this one looks like another great selection from this company.

I love both of the True Blood nail polish sets, everyone knows how much I love True Blood and will buy almost anything True Blood related.  It also helps when the True Blood products happen to be from one of my favorite companies and are products that I would buy anyway!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom

Deborah Lippmann True Blood Sookie Sookie Nail Lacquer Set

One of my favorite book series and TV shows is True Blood, in truth I much prefer the books however I am always more than happy to take some time out of my busy life to sit down and watch the love triangle between Sookie, Eric, and Bill.  I love True Blood tie-ins (remember the Tarte and True Blood collection from fall 2012?  I still use that eye shadow palette at least one or twice a week and I wish that there would have been more products offered in that series).  I had been reading of a True Blood perfume that was going to come out last summer only for either QVC or HSN but I never saw any reviews or thoughts on the product and eventually forget about it.  But imagine how excited I was to see this current collaboration with True Blood - True Blood and Deborah Lippmann!  I love True Blood and I love Deborah Lippmann products - this is almost too good to be true!

There are so far two nail lacquer sets that I can find on the Nordstrom website, I don't remember seeing this sets advertised anywhere else and I know that I would not have missed them.  Deborah Lippmann polishes are among the best in quality and shade range that are available on the market today and I have used her polishes for years now.  The majority of her single polish shades were created with celebrities and now it comes as no surprise to me that with the release of the Snow White movie earlier this year, she is teaming up with popular television and movie teams to create more product tie-ins.

I have only seen these sets on the Nordstrom website so that is where all product information and shade descriptions will be coming from.  "Sookie Sookie features Human Nature and Fairydust. Inspired by the character, Sookie, from the award-winning series, True Blood®, these shades portray the duality of her character. Human Nature, a mortal putty taupe, represents Sookie's human half, while Fairydust, an ethereal shimmer, symbolizes her fairy counterpart."  If you are not a True Blood follower, Sookie is the main character in the series and she is half human and half fairy, giving her special telepathic powers.

Both of the shades in this set are not part of the regular polish line up so if you like one or both of them, I recommend purchasing this set.  Realistically, if you like the shades but know nothing about True Blood, then I just suggest that you ignore the tie-in and use these great polishes.  Deborah Lippmann makes wonderful nude and pale polish shades, they don't streak during application and last for almost an entire week with minimal tip wear.  I am very fond of both of these shades and I would purchase them even without the True Blood tie-in.  I believe that I can easily use both shades along and then also use Fairydust as a shimmer top coat to all shades of polish.

I just love that there are more ways for me to express how much of a True-bie I am!  I want this set and we will check out the other set within the next few weeks!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom

True Blood Pam's Hair Color

Is vampire my new look for spring?  I have been told by someone who is in the beauty industry that she thinks I would look great with this color hair since my skintone is similar.  I would start with highlights and then work my way up to this shade of pale blond and the whole look wouldn't fully emerge until next fall.  Is this is bit too much or is a big change a good thing?

photo courtesy of True Blood Wiki

Tarte True Blood Palette - Vamp Glam

Vamp Glam is the last of the four looks that were included with the Tarte True Blood palette and is the other look that is best for night.  Vamp Glam is my other favorite look in the palette but ti was originally the one that I disliked the most when I first looked through the look book.  This is the most dramatic of all the looks and is another Pam at Fangtasia look.  This is a look that I never thought that I could pull off but I ended up loving it once I got it on and blended to my satisfaction.

- Apply a soft wash of Telepath (sparkling warm rose) on the entire lid, blending upward and outward into the crease and outer corner.
- Apply Fairy (shimmering pink) on the inner corner of the eye and blend up and outward along the brow bone.
- Line the eyes with Tarte for True Blood EmphasEyes Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in Black.  For a more dramatic look, widen the line gradually in the center and extend the liner just beyond the lashline at the outer corner.
- Using a smudger brush, apply "V" (sparkling crimson) along the lower and upper lashline focusing on the innermost corner of the eye.

Even though these shades are very dramatic, the shades were very easy to work with.  They are all very pigmented and the pale pink in the inner corner is the key to keeping the look from being too dramatic to pull off.  I blended the pale pink all the way up to my brow bone and blended it out to lighten the rose shade up.  I have never really like crimson eye shadow but somehow this whole look worked for me and I ended up falling in love with it the first time, this is the only one of the looks that I didn't have to play around with at all.

To sum it all up, my favorite shades from the palette are The True Death and Dawn, my least favorite shades are Nocturnal and Werewolf.

photo courtesy of Tarte

Tarte True Blood Palette - Vampy Vixen

Vampy Vixen is one the two looks that take this palette firmly into nighttime makeup territory, the other look is Vamp Glam.  Both of these looks remind me of Pam at Fangtasia and I reserved these looks for getting dressed up this fall and winter.  Vampy Vixen is a dramatic silver eye look that works well as a foiled eye look or a lighter version of the traditional smoky eye.  This look is an easier one for ladies who are unused to dramatic eye makeup to pull off, it only uses two shades and isn't difficult to blend. 

- Using a shadow brush, softly apply The True Death (sparkling silver) up to the crease of the lid for an iridescent wash of color.  Blend shadow into the crease.
- For intense definition, apply Tarte for True Blood EmphasEyes Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in Black on the upper lashline.
- To add depth to the outline of the eye, smudge Glamour (sparkling deep plum) lightly along the upper and lower lashline, blending upward and outward.

The True Death is a very pigmented shimmering silver, a very little bit of it create the foiled eye look.  This is my favorite shadow in the palette and might be the best silver that I have ever worked with.  The texture is that of butter and feels amazing going on and blends very easily.  This may be one of my top five favorite eye shadows of all time.  I used the NARS No. 15 Brush to apply the dark plum shadow over the line and to blend it right up to my lashes.  I am also considering trying this look and substituting MAC Black Tie or Tarte Moss, Nocturnal, or Immortal for the Glamour Me shade.  This is a very good eye makeup look and will get lots of mileage from me this fall and holiday.
photo courtesy of Tarte

Tarte True Blood Palette - Not Your Average Waitress

Not Your Average Waitress was my least favorite of the four looks.  This is the look that I had the hardest time with the first time that I tried it out and is the only look that I really had to rework the second time around since I found it unwearable the first time.  First of all, all of the shades in this look are mattes and I as stated in the last post, the matte shadows in this palette were the worst in both texture and pigmentation.  The first time that I did this look, I reproduced it exactly from the instructions and it just looked awful on me, I worked to soften it but it still didn't help at all.  So fiorst we will go in the instructions for the look and then I will go into how I had to change this look up to make it for out for me.

- Sweep a soft wash of Dusk (matte warm taupe) all over the entire lid.
- Apply Waitress (sparkling pink champagne) in the crease blending upward toward the brow bone.
- Create a wash of smoldering color all around the eye by blending Werewolf (matte chocolate) in to the outer crease and over lashline.
- Thickly line eyes with Tarte for True Blood EmphasEyes Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in Black, sweeping up and out at the corners.

So here were my big issues.  I just couldn't get the eye liner to create the matching outer corner sweep on each eye, one had more on than the other and each time that I tried to fix it by adding a bit more to the other side, it just got even worse.  The matte shades had much less pigmentation than the shimmers and therefore made the eyeliner look even more black and unblended.  The matte shades were harder to work with and the more that I tried to blend, it just got worse.  I tried to soften this look by taking Werewolf and using the NARS 15 Smudge Brush to cover the line and try to blend it in.  This helped a bit but still didn't make the look much more wearable.
The second time that I did this look I changed the eyeliner shade.  The black eyeliner was what I hated the most about this look so instead of blck, I tried it with dark brown instead.  I used the Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Liner that was included in the Naked palette, Whiskey.  This change lightened the look up a bit and it made it better but I still dislike it the most of all the looks.  The mattes just don't have the same quality that the other textures did and that pretty much ruined the whole look.

photo courtesy of Tarte

Tarte True Blood Palette - Luminous Fairy

I have finished up trying all of the looks that accompanied the True Blood eye shadow and have come a few conclusions.  The first thing that I realized is that not all of the shades that are in the palette are used in the looks, the shades in the palette all work well together and I am will to bet that some of the deeper ones can be used to change around the more dramatic eye looks.  Second, the shimmer shades are much nicer than the matte shades.  The shimmer shades had a great texture, very buttery and easy to work with.  The matte textured shadows were the worst of the palette and among the worst shadows that I have ever worked with.  They were had to blend and I wasn't impressed with the color payoff.  Last note, the dramatic looks are better than the more neutral look but I have gotten tons of wear from the more neutral shades already.  

The first look that I worked with was Luminous Fairy, an eye makeup look that just screamed "Sookie Stackhouse" when I first looked at it.  This is a very easy look to work with and works well in many types of environments. 

- Apply Dawn (shimmering gold dust) all over lids as a base and blend softly into crease then blend Bayou (shimmering gold tan) into the natural crease.
- Tightly line the upper lashline from the inner to outer corner using Tarte for True Blood EmpasEyes Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in Black.  Keep the line as thin as possible as you move out. 
- Using a smudger brush, smudge Charmer (sparkling burnt copper) into the upper lashline.

This is the look that is a closest to many of the eye makeup looks that I do on a daily basis.  The neutrals and golds work very well for me and I get the most use out of these shades.  I do this look with the eye liner for a more dramatic look and skip it when I pair these shades against a strong lip.  This was a pretty easy look to do especially since the shades blend so well together that any small mistakes can be blended away.  I have also found that this look works well with any of the shades from Urban Decay Naked Palette and it is very easy to sub in bronzes and dark golds.

I tried each look twice and this is the only one that applied pretty much the same every time, anyone could pull this look off.  This one is tied for my favorite of the four makeup looks.

photo courtesy of Tarte

Tarte for True Blood Collection

The newest season of True Blood just started up several weeks ago and was long awaited by all of its fans.  I was a late comer to the phenomenon that is True Blood, I don't have HBO in my home (I know, I know) and I have to catch the episodes online in my spare time.  I have read and love all the books in the series and I must admit that I prefer the books to the TV series (as I often do in cases of books made into movies or TV series).  As the new season was starting up, Tarte released a small makeup collection that is based on the TV series and was created in tandem with the makeup artists for the show.  This collection was first available on the Sephora website (to Beauty Insiders only) and now has been released officially on the Tarte website.  I was able to buy the eye shadow palette right from the Sephora website right as it was being released, from what I am hearing this palette is beginning to get hard to find with limited quantities available.

This collection consists of three major products: an eye shadow palette, a lip stain, and a cheek stain.  All of the formulas in this collection are their best-selling and top-rated products so there will be no misses in this collection.  This collection is actually a great way for Tarte to reach a whole new audience, I was first attracted to this line because of the tie-in with True Blood.  I don't own many products from Tarte so without the True Blood tie-in, I might have gone right by this on Sephora. 

"Get glamoured by Tarte for True Blood, a limited edition cosmetics collection, inspired by the hit HBO series True Blood.  Whether you're a supernatural beauty or a vampy vixen, this collection contains versatile shades to take you from dawn to dusk, and well into the night."

Here is the Tarte collaboration with True Blood...

Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Lipsurgence Lip Tint - Experience love at first taste with Tarte's Lipsurgence natural Lip Tint, inspired by the hit HBO series True Blood.  It's all flavor and no bite with this mint-infused, iridescent red shade that drenches lips in luminous, long-lasting tint while Tarte's Lipsurgence technology rehydrates lips by delivering a surge of moisture for a deliciously plumped up appearance.

Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Natural Cheek Stain - Have you spent an eternity in search of an everlasting glow?  Meet your Maker.  Inspired by the hit HBO series True Blood, this sparkling red cheek stain blends on smooth and lasts from dawn to dusk, and well into the night.  A drop is all you need to create a crave-worthy natural luminescence for all skin tones and types.  Like all Tarte products, this lusty natural stain will do good things to you thanks to natural mineral pigments and fruit extracts.

Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Palette - Get glamoured with this limited edition palette packed with 17 killer new eye shadows and more.  Each richly pigmented shadow is softly milled and infused with Amazonian clay for pure color payoff, silky application, and long wear.  From ethereal goddess to vampy vixen, you can create countless looks using these shimmering, matte, and smoky shades.  Open after dark: buried in a pullout drawer is a full-size EmphasEyes Aqua-Gel Eye Liner in a Black, a deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes! clinically proven natural mascara and a deluxe Lifted Natural Eye Primer with Firmitol to help you complete your look.  Turn into a real Tarte trubie using the four 'get the looks' included with each palette, exclusively created by True Blood's award-winning lead makeup artist Bridgette Ellis.
- The Light - shimmering warm ivory
- Fairy - shimmering pink
- Dusk - wamr matte taupe
- Dawn - shimmering gold dust
- Werewolf - matte chocolate
- Waitress - sparkling pink champagne
- Nocturnal - sparkling deep indigo
- Charmer - sparkling burnt copper
- Glamour Me - sparkling deep plum
- Stake - matte steel
- Bayou - shimmering golden tan
- Telepath - sparkling warm rose
- The True Death - sparkling silver
- Immortal - sparkling midnight black
- Moss - shimmering forest green
- Legend - deep matte black
- "V" - sparkling crimson

This palette provides a great range of shades and I am very impressed with the texture and pigmentation of the shades that I have really worked with.  I have been using the shades in this palette in two ways; to create a few lighter looks for the summer months and following the looks that were provided in the booklet.  Right now, I am in my summer bronzed look so I have mostly been using the looks that seem to have been created for Sookie (bronzed and blond beauty).  The shadow shades that I have worked with so far are The Light, Fairy, Dawn, and Bayou.  Bayou is a my favorite so far, it is lovely shimmering gold and has a great buttery texture. 

So far, I have only followed the directions on one look in this palette, the Luminous Fairy look.  This one is created with ivory, champage, and gold shades; along with the black eye liner included in this palette.  So far, I also really like this formula of liner so I must check this product out on the Sephora website in the near future.  Within the next week, I will have separate posts up with the details of each of the four looks inthe booklet. 

I love this palette so far and it was a great purchase.  I recommend that you all check this out since you will love the colors in it, whether or not you have any interest in the True Blood series.

photo courtesy of Sephora