YSL | Rouge Volupte Lipsticks

Hey there lovelies! Today I'm here to share with you a very amazing, and quite luxurious, brand of lipstick. They are the Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipsticks. Each one is $34 a pop which yes, sounds quite expensive, it is, but oh my lanta is it worth it. I'll go step by step with this one and start with the packaging. The golden packaging is just so elegant. It's what I imagine a very wealthy fashionista keeping on her vanity. I love the small detailing in the middle of the tube with the gorgeous YSL logo. I also love that the color of the lipstick is represented within that detailing. It makes it so easy to see the color and that way you're not digging through all of them (all of two for me, haha!) to find the color you need! 

The lipsticks, of course, roll up to reveal stunning shades. Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the shades in the range. I have two of the more bold shades; Rose Paris 27 (a Valentine's gift from my boyfriend from a year ago) and Forbidden Burgundy 12 (a treat to myself and coupons were had). Rose Paris is a bright coral that's more on the pinky side. It's an amazing shade for the summer time! Forbidden Burgundy is a deep plum shade that's the perfect vampy shade to where in the fall and the winter. The formulation of both is stunningly pigmented and they radiate color. Is that a strange way to describe it? Both glide on so smoothly and are opaque in just one swipe. I love that they're moisturizing, creamy and they leave a luminous shine on the lips. The color lasts for ages and you can barely feel it on your lips. 

The Rouge Volupte lipsticks do have a scent to them and I think it's the most pleasant smell you could give a lipstick. It smells sweet like a fruit, but softly. It doesn't last on my lips  (boo!) and it doesn't irritate either (hooray!) so that shouldn't be too, too bad for those sensitive to scents! The only other downfall is that because the color is so glossy and creamy it has a tendency to slip and slide. I recommend not eating or drinking anything for the first 15 minutes to allow the lipstick to set because if not, it'll transfer to EVERYTHING. Tiny downfall that can be fixed with a bit of patience, but still a downfall!

I still want to get Rose Culte 11 which is a vivid fuchsia color but it's sold out everywhere I go! I have yet to swatch it on myself but I can almost guarantee it'll be a color I love. The YSL Rouge Volupte's are pricey but the elegance, fantastic pigmentation and lasting power make it a lipstick worth treating yourself to! I hope to be treating myself to another one soon as these are one of my absolute favorite lipsticks!

Would you treat yourself to a Rouge Volupte? Have you already? What shades do you love?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

How TheModMermaid Got Her Groove Back

Someone should just stop me and tell me how cheesy that title is. I couldn't help myself, sorry! How have you all been? I hope well and feeling nothing like how I felt whilst writing my last post about two weeks ago. I reread it and am now hoping to never be in such a scary place like that again. Although I know it's inevitable, eek. As for right now, I'm back and refreshed - ready to jump back into my b-game (blogging game! b-game, get it? someone ... seriously ... stop me!) I just got back from my trip to Cancun with my mom and sister. We raged every night and I met so many hot guys, it was JUST what I needed. LOL, okay I'm fibbing so hard. To be honest we woke up early, ate breakfast, laid out at the beach or poolside, ate some lunch, laid out some more, chilled in our room, had dinner, and fell asleep before the 9:30 entertainment had begun every night. I know, you're all thinking, "what a waste of a trip to Cancun" but seriously the weather was awesome and rest was just what the doctor ordered for me after a grueling two weeks in school. The beach itself had a calming effect on me, it always does. I love the ocean and the beach. So before I get back into the beauty swing of things, today I thought I'd share some photos of my trip!

My first hour at the hotel with late breakfast in front of me! I hadn't slept the night before because I was up finishing my paper and didn't submit it until right before I left for the airport!

Giant rock on the beach! Look how blue and clear the water was! So different from New York water, that's for sure, haha!

There was an infinity pool! The tiles on the pool floor matched the different colors of the ocean. If you put your head on the pool deck it'd look like there were palm trees just jutting out of the water! 

My sister learned to carve designs into fruit! There's a useful skill if I ever did see one, haha!

A typical lunch for me, haha. There was always so much to choose from and I always needed to put salsa on everything. It was awesome with a burger! 

This is probably my favorite picture because it looks like I paid $59 for a cup of Starbucks Coffee! It was 59 pesos but you'd never know just looking at it!

I made a friend! 

More scenic shots! It's so beautiful and these pictures are making me think my vacation was way too short! 

My sister and I rode on wave runners. We, of course, squealed like hyenas fearing for our lives because we were terrified of tipping over! We didn't thank goodness but our wave runner started smoking and it was honestly just so scary! We tried to pretend we were in a James Bond movie but every time we did we almost go knocked over by a wave or you know ... crashed into another wave runner, no biggie!

Selfless family mirror pic portrait! A classy bunch going out to celebrate my mom's birthday!

This was my favorite outfit/look that I wore on the entire vacation. It was the only time I dressed up, actually! The dress is from Forever21 which I featured in my MerHaul here. My wedges (if you can even see them, haha!) are from Aldo's.

On my face I'm wearing:
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation in B20 (I think, it's the lightest shade they make, hah!)
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent
MAC Amberlights eyeshadow all across the lid and then blending out the edges
MAC Black Track Fluidline on the upper lashline
Benefit's They're Real mascara
NARS Orgasm blush
MAC Venus lipstick

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing some snaps from my vacation! I only just got back and am already wondering when I can go on another! Oh well, at least I still have the rest of my Spring Break off from classes to look forward to and then IMATS in just 10 more days! Are any of you lovelies going? :) I'd love to know!

Till' next time (and there shall be a next time quite soon!!) 

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

It's Not You, It's Me ...

Actually it's college. I blame it all on the hectic scheduling my professors have placed upon me. Yes, my professors. They'll (all) do this thing where they give you no work or exams to study for and then out of NO WHERE, wham-bam here's a project, have a paper, and while you're at it, here's a midterm! I'm not good with stress. I don't like it. Gives me pains that I didn't know I could have. I've been going non-stop since last week and I still haven't finished everything I needed to do. 

So with that I've decided to take a small break from blogging. It's not a forever thing (will probably only last a week or so) but I'm having so much trouble writing up posts of quality. If I uploaded any drafts you guys would automatically pick up on how lackluster I'm feeling. The big kicker is that I haven't even had time to read or comment on other's blogs which is something I used to always have time for! I need this break to finish all my coursework and then just breathe for a bit. No writing, no reading, just relaxing. I hope you guys can understand. 

One fun thing is that I did manage to film/edit a video for this Friday! How'd you have time to film/edit a video?! Well it was already filmed and all I had to do was edit it. I had an all nighter writing a paper and by the time I finished I couldn't fall asleep so it passed the time. Anyway, it's going to go up on my YouTube channel, if you're not already subscribed it'd make my day if you did! 

http://youtube.com/themodmermaid

Hope you all have a great (and stressless) week! Ill talk to you all soon! :)

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Tutorial | Simply Spring

LOL, don't you just love when you work on a glorious eye look that looks so pretty in person and then in photos it looks like you put nothing on your face?! This seems to be the case in the above pictures! 

Today's video is a fun and fresh spring time look! It was finally getting warm outside when I filmed this on Wednesday now cue to Friday and I'm back in my puffy coat! No worries, if spring weather hasn't completely hit a town near you, you can still channel Spring with this look! The colors I used are subtle with a bit of shimmer to add some sheen, coral for the cheeks because, what else do us bloggers wear in the spring?! And then to top it all off and give the look some pop, a vivid fuchsia lipstick! I personally love this look and created it on one of my "lazy" days which means it's super simple to recreate everyday. It doesn't take much time and you don't need an insane amount of products! Also, don't let the lipstick scare you if bright lippies aren't your thing! You can always lightly dab a bright color onto your lips or use a stain so it's much more subtle!

Without further ado here is my Simply Spring tutorial. As always, let me know what you guys think!

What are your favorite shadows, blushes, and lippies to wear in the spring?

Thanks for watching and have a great weekend!

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Collective Mini Haul | LUSH & Drugstore

Does anyone else do this? You tell yourself not to spend money on bits and pieces you know you don't need (in my case cosmetics!) and you stick with it for a while. Then you find yourself buying one bit here, a bob there, and a piece here; you didn't buy them all in one go so it makes it okay! Or does it, because this sort of mentality has resulted in this baby haul!? These are things that if I bought in one go I'd feel super guilty buying but having bought them spaced out on separate occasions makes me sort of justify it? Does anyone else find themselves ever doing this? Okay, I know, I know get on with the haul! 

Here we have a collective haul, a small one, but still loads to share! I picked up these products in the last two weeks and thought I'd share them with you! I am going to be doing a review on each of these items so look out for those sometime soon!

• Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids in Vivid Rose & Shocking Coral ($7.49) | I saw these lipsticks on someone's blog, I can't remember whose, and I was literally (okay, not literally) blown away by the brightness of these lipsticks! I think there are 8 or 10 colors in the whole range and they all just POP! I'm a girl who shy's away from the neutral and nude lippies so I was all over these. I ran to maybe 10 different drugstores before I found one that had the colors I wanted. I was going to pick up a third color but managed to have (some) restraint. 
• LUSH Cosmetics The Brightside Bubble Bar ($8.95) | LUSH is the best. I had fallen out of lust with them for a while but I think I'm swinging right back to loving them. When I saw their Easter collection had come out I knew I would have to pop in and touch everything, haha! I told myself to just get one thing because I still have loads of bath products from their Holiday collection. The Brightside bubble bar smells AMAZING and the colors are just WOW! It instantly caught my eye and seeing as how it was a "big" bubble bar, I knew it was the one item I had to have! (I dug through all of them until I found the biggest chunk! woops)
• Nivea Lip Butter in Vanilla & Macadamia Kiss ($4.29) | Okay, bloggers. I heard your raves and caved. Fingers crossed this'll be a nice one! Although I've heard the scent alone makes bloggers go ga-ga! :)
• Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Translucent ($6.19) | You may recall me raving about wanting the NARS Light Reflecting Powder here. Welp, my MAC MSF Natural ran out before I  got a chance to get my coupon and but said NARS powder. I've always wanted to try the Stay Matte powder and don't want to spend money on a high end powder just yet so it's a win-win! Really excited to try it out as I've heard great things!

What have you hauled recently?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

MerHaul: Ulta, Abercrombie, Forever 21 + more!

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a good weekend! I'm writing up this post to let you guys know that I uploaded a haul onto my YouTube channel! Normally this post would have gone up with the video but I haven't had a chance to type it up! I went to shopping with my mom and sister last weekend and ended up picking up a few fashion pieces that I thought I'd share with you seeing as how this "fashion and beauty" blog was seriously lacking some fashion! The pieces are very springy and got me excited for warmer weather! So I hope you guys enjoy the haul and as always let me know what you think!

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Mermaid Perfume

Today is an exciting day here on The Mod Mermaid. 'Why?' you ask. Well because today I'll be telling you about and reviewing products from a company called Mermaid Perfume. YES. The Mod Mermaid is reviewing MERMAID. PERFUME. A few days ago I was contacted by Mermaid Perfume and was kindly asked if I'd be interested in reviewing their products. Just try to imagine my excitement because as you guys may or may not know, I'm obsessed with anything related to mermaids. These lovely products arrived at my door step and I tore through the box unable to contain my curiosity! 

I received three items and each one was individually wrapped with bubble wrap, which was great because it meant that none of my products came damaged! I love the simplistic design of the stickers placed on the products. I'll be honest and say that I expected something blue or green but something about the pastel coral and gold just work so much better and makes it look more sophisticated. The scent of all three products is the same but they each vary in strength. The Mermaid Perfume website describes it as "Mysterious. Romantic. Ethereal." and the fragrance is supposed to be of orange blossom flowers. I'm not exactly sure what orange blossom flowers smell like but the scent of these products is indeed very romantic and it's also very floral (orange blossom flowers, duh Jess! haha). I know scents are very personally to the individual and I can definitely see someone either really loving it or not at all. I, personally, really liked the scent of it and got compliments from my sister and a single person in my school who smelled it on me, aha! The way I describe it is it smells like "a very chic perfume of a woman who lives on the upper west side by Central Park" Picture this woman and you will probably picture this scent! The scent is floral, to say the least, but a very "grown-up" and clean floral. Scratch and sniff would come in handy right about now. 

Now on to the products themselves. Like I said, they all have the same scent but the strength on each differs and the products themselves are different:

• Mermaid Perfume Rollerball | The rollerball contains 1/8 of an ounce fragrance. The scent is the strongest in the rollerball. I applied it to my wrists and neck and could still smell it about 5 hours later. (Well, I couldn't really smell my neck, but you get me!) I'm guessing this is due to the fact that the rollerball contains 100% perfume oil. Also, a good amount of product comes out in one "roll". Usually with rollerballs I find you have to tip it over and roll a good amount before a decent amount of perfume applies!
• Mermaid Perfume Spray | The spray contains 2 oz. of fragrance and it's my favorite of the bunch! I love the glass bottle with the long gold top and their beautiful sticker on the front. It's currently looking pretty on my new floating shelf. The fragrance strength in this spray doesn't last as long as the rollerball. It lasts for maybe 3.5 hours before it starts to fade out. The cap, although very beautiful, is a bit tricky to remove. You have to sort of turn and pull because it doesn't just pop off.
• Mermaid Candle | The candle contains 7 oz of product. The wax is 100% chemical free vegetable soy wax and the wick is 100% cotton. The Mermaid Perfume site says that this candle is supposed to have a 60 hour burn time. I had this puppy lit from 12 - 7 on Monday and I've barely made a dent! This candle was strange because the scent throw wasn't very strong at first (I was sitting right by it and couldn't smell it) and then out of nowhere I could smell it one floor down in my living room! It's not an overpowering scent (if it was my mom and sister would not have let me burn it for 7 hours straight!) and it sort of brought some nice light and warmth to my room

The products by Mermaid Perfume are fantastic and I'm really glad I enjoy the scent! The packaging is simplistic, yet looks very elegant and something you'd want to keep out on a shelf! My only gripe with these products is their cost! Each product retails for $50. Now I know I'm no Sally Saver (I just made that up) but that seems a tad expensive to me. I know I wouldn't be able to justify buying all three of these product but if you guys are intereseted in the scent and can only justify one of these beauts then I'd totally go for the Perfume Spray. The staying power is good and the packaging is gorgeous! The scent is lovely, romantic, and floral. I do sort of feel like a mermaid every time I spray this on myself. I wish there was a way for you guys to actually have a sniff! I'm impressed with it all (except the price could be a wee bit better, hehe!) and am so glad I finally got to share it with you all!

If you guys are interested you can find these products on the Mermaid Perfume website, www.mermaidperfume.com. 

So what are your thoughts fellow mermaid-ians (wot sort of word did I just invent)? Can you envision the scent? I hope so :)

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Bobbi Brown | Sparkle Eyeshadow in Ballet

Bonjour to all! Unless it's evening tim where you are right now, then bonsoir! I wasn't planning on writing up a post today as I spent all of yesterday night ripping my hair out trying to write a paper. I was too stressed to function and with only one page done went to sleep to save my sanity. Now it's a new day and I'm in school with a huge gap between classes freaking out again. I have so much trouble writing something "academic". I know what I mean to say in my head but getting it down on paper (or in this case a Word document) is just so difficult. So I thought I'd open up my laptop find a draft I had saved up and get in the swing of just writing something, stress free. /nervous breakdown

Today I'll be reviewing for you all a new favorite eyeshadow of mine! It encompasses everything a girl who is subtle but loves glitter could ever want or need in an eyeshadow. This shadow of course is Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadow in the color Ballet ($28). Ballet is a sparkle packed pink eyeshadow, although the color of the shadow doesn't matter as much as the color of the little glitters because it disappears. The glitters on this shadow are a mix of pink, silver, and gold micro shimmers. This shadow is very reminiscent of MAC's Paint Pot in Let's Skate with those same pretty shimmers! The texture of the shadow is stiff. If you want a super subtle sparkle (with a fleck here and there) than I would recommend using any sort of dense eyeshadow brush. If you're like me and think "the more glitter, the better" I'd recommend just swirling your finger in the shadow and patting right onto your eye lid. You'll only need one swirl for a nice wash of glitter so even if you use this every day it'll be ages before you even hit pan! My swatch below doesn't give it the justice it deserves! I mainly just wanted to show the amount of glitter one swatch will get you; the texture is stiff but the formula isn't a dry one! (It's just my pruney, old lady hands ruining it all, haha!) 

I'd also like to point out how sleek and chic I think Bobbi Brown's packaging is. There's not a lot of fuss with the amount of packaging and I like that it has the little wide window to see the beautiful color inside! Also you can pop these individual eyeshadows out to place them in Bobbi Brown palettes, although I have no use for that function, it's just a nice tip for you all to know! :)

Now I totally realize that this shadow isn't for everyone. Some might not like the glitter, the sheerness of the pink, or just the stiff texture of the shadow, but if you're looking for something to jazz up an everyday "natural" look (without looking like you're ready for your duties as disco ball at the night club) then I would definitely recommend this eyeshadow!

What do you guys think of it?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Update & Where To Follow Me!

Happy Monday, guys! Where'd the weekend go? It's always here one second and gone the next! I got some shopping done with my mom and sister on Saturday. It was so funny because everything I touched was either teal, turquoise, or a mint color! It was a few fashion pieces and these really fantastic pair of shoes from Enzo Angiolini that were so cheap and just encompassed all things mermaid! If you guys would like I could do a haul post/film a haul video if you want to see! Yesterday I spent the day with my dad watching Quentin Tarantino movies and off to a somewhat awkward family birthday (not a family member of mine! LOL). This weekend I also got to see Rico Suave (my nickname for my boyfriend!) for the first time in weeks since he's been busy working on a movie. It was really great to see him and snuggle with something other than my sock monkey, haha! 

Also, something happened this weekend that inspired the second part of this post "Where to follow me!" Any of you who follow me on twitter know that I use that to share beauty/blog information as well as just personal tweets of mine, which was working out great until right after the chat. I shared my link, as we all do, and moments later got this tweet saying how someone was not only 10 seconds into my favorites video and already wanted to off themselves. Now you're probably wondering what awful blogger could have tweeted this at me, but the thing is, it wasn't a blogger. It's someone I know in real life who is constantly bothered by my blogger tweets. Personally I couldn't give a damn but it got me thinking that maybe this blog needs its own twitter. I now see why it's sometimes better to keep your blog to just people who can understand it or at least respect it.

Where you can follow me:

*click the social network name to go to it!*

• Twitter | You guys can now follow me on @themodmermaid. If you follow me on my personal twitter now (@jkruuu), feel free to still follow but anything to do with this blog will now be placed on the new twitter rather than my personal one! 
• Facebook | Like The Mod Mermaid Facebook page to keep up to date, as well! I post random beauty videos I find quite hilarious and just random things, as well as all my posts and videos!
• YouTube | I post videos every Friday! They're filled with beauty, fun, and squeaky voices!
• Instagram | Instagram is staying the same; the username is jkruuu Follow if you'd like!
• Tumblr | Quite random but if you guys have tumblr's feel free to follow me on there! I post an eclectic bunch of images (mostly reblog, haha!) 'tis very "hipster", but you get a random McDonalds nest of chicken nuggets and fries post, hah!

So much social media! It's quite strange to think there's a lot more than that, but those are the only one's I'm on as of now. Feel free to follow, like, and subscribe on either of them! With the new twitter I'll feel more comfortable sharing my posts when they go up, as well as, my YouTube videos as those are the one thing I feel mucho uncomfortable sharing with my public circle!

Have great day and let me know if you'd like to see a haul later this week! 

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

February Favorites

Welp, there goes another month! I'm very much looking forward to March and slightly dreading it. In March I'm going on a proper Spring Break to Cancun (with my mom and sister, but they're still a fun time!) and March means we're this much closer to IMATS, and I still haven't bought a ticket, eep! Before Spring Break can happen I have to take my midterms and write mid-term papers and frankly, I'm not looking forward to that part! The end of February also marks the end of my first full month at a new school which was great and I feel so much more comfortable. I don't know wether that was due to the school itself or if I just feel at home in the city. Anywho, in the beauty blogosphere the end of a month means the beginning of a stream of favorites posts and videos! So here are my favorites for the month of February! 

• Urban Decay Basics Palette & Sigma E40 Brush | I've been loving this palette to create super natural eye looks (A look, LOL)  and I've honestly used it every day of the month!
• Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Liner in 2L | I've raved about this eyeliner to you all ever since I bought it. The formulation and pigmentation is amazing and the brown color really makes my blue eyes stand out!
• Tarte Natural Beauty and NARS Orgasm Blushes | These blushes have been my go to give nice flushes of color to my cheeks (and I wasn't the only one who loved these two blushes! *ahem* Cassie!)
• China Glaze Smoke & Ashes and Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe | These two have been the colors that graced my nails the most this month! I layered Deborah Lippmann's color over the China Glaze one.
• Miss Dior Cherie Perfume | I've been loving this warm and feminine fragrance!

Watch my February Favorites video to get a more cuckoo banana description of all of my favorites as well as a super random favorite and some of my favorite buys of this month!

What have some of your favorites been in the month of February AND have you ever had DAVID's TEA ?!

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube