If I had to donate my entire makeup collection, these are the two things I would keep!

Long time no see gals and guys! I need not get into how "the hustle and bustle of everyday life kept me away" or "I was a bit overwhelmed with school, work and planning a wedding"..but I will focus on the fact that I have missed my keyboard and the freedom of expression that comes along with being a blogger =D

I have been wanting to do a beauty post for a while now but I honestly haven't been purchasing many beauty items since I am saving for my wedding (hey, every penny counts!) and aside from a great mascara I switched to and an occasional new lip product, nothing really blog worthy has fallen into my hands. That all changed around the Holidays!

It is safe to say, if you read the title of this post, then you know to what high regard I hold these next two products I am about to show you. These are the kinds of finds that make me shout from the rooftops! (ok maybe we shouldn't take it that far lol) In the past month, I have used these each and every day and they are essentially all I would ever need if they were to never run out :)

Drumroll::::::::::

1. The Guy Bourdin for NARS Holiday Collection Cheek Palette

 

• Included are a bronzer in Laguna, highlighter in Devotee, Blushes in Orgasm, Deep Throat, Mistinguette, and Goulue. 
• The Bronzer is a little light for medium complexions like myself, BUT I make it work by layering and it is pretty awesome. 
• There is a shade of peachy pink for everyone--my favorites happen to be Goulue which is the deep pink and Deep Throat which is described as a "flirty sheer peach"
• For old time NARS "devotee's", they also included their best seller, Orgasm which I have in regular compact form as well. 
• After doing the math..you know what, let's just break it down here: 
• A Full size blush contains 0.16 oz. or 4.8 g's of product and run around $29.00. 
• Each of the blushes in this palette contain 0.14 oz or 4 grams of product and with a total palette cost of $65.00, that means that we are pretty much getting 6 near full size products for only $10.83 each !!!!!!!! After doing the math, I was able to justify the price, heck $65 is a lot to spend in one place on cosmetics. 
• The convenience of being able to grab this and go is awesome too....minus the fact that it has the typical NARS packaging and it gets dirty very easily..NARS, switch  it up please :) 

2. The Lorac Pro Palette

• 8 Matte Shades, 8 Shimmer Shades...does anything else really need to be explained? haha
• There are colors that will give you that sexy smokey eye and also colors that you can wear for a fresh face look---I love them all! 
• "Taupe" is the perfect crease blending color for me and "Cream" is what I have been using as my browbone highlight with "Nude" as a nice inner corner shimmer highlight. 
• The only drawback I see is that "White" can come off a little chalky but honestly I have yet to come across a true white shadow that isn't chalky. 
• This goes for around $42 and comes with a mini eye primer as well--excellent deal as I, dare I say it....prefer this over my NAKED 1 palette which was my HG for a while! 

My final thoughts on these babies are this: I am sorry that the cheek palette is a holiday item as I don't think you can get it online anymore--I have definitely seen some still in Sephora stores though so if you're interested, be sure to go check it out. I truly could give away my entire makeup collection (which is mighty hefty these days) and only use these two palettes and a lip product and mascara for a complete look. You can use the black shadow as an eyeliner!

Lorac Pro Palette  Guy Bourdin for NARS Cheek palette Reviews

Happy New Year Friends, wishing you health, prosperity, happiness and love :)

Grab these babies now or be sorry later,

xox

Overdue IMATS/Drugstore/Sephora Shop and Tell!

In April, I had the pleasure of attending IMATS NYC (International Makeup Artist Trade Show), I am so lucky to be able to just hop on the train or in my car and go because it is so close! I must say, if any of you attended the one we held here in the city last year then you will probably agree with me when I say that this year was SO much more organized and better overall! There was so much more space which meant we got to have more vendors! We even got to walk around without bumping into others ;) haha I can definitely say that I had such an amazing time there! I even met Kandee Johnson, one of my very favorite women.  Inglot and NYX had the longest lines from what I could tell, but it was all worth it :) Check out what I picked up below as well as from Sephora and Target :)

Kandee and I :)

INGLOT & NYX Concealers in a jar purchased from IMATS, Sonia Kashuk Concealer quad purchased from Target.

INGLOT Freedom System 10 Shadow Palette purchased from IMATS, LOVE these shadows, so beautiful and pigmented!

NYX Lip Products and JulieG Nailpolish purchased from IMATS

Tarte Mini Sized Eye Primer and Face Primers purchased from Sephora, Model in a Bottle Setting Spray Purchased from IMATS.

Mini Tarte Bronzer in Park Ave Princess and Blush in Amused purchased from Sephora.

Also stopped by the Give Good Face booth and picked up one of these awesome T's! I like to wear this when I am doing makeup on someone haha too funny!

Along with this, the only other thing that I didn't photograph because I am in the process of cleaning them would be my Royal Langnickel makeup brushes, picked up 4 single face and eye brushes.

I will probably review some of these purchases further with a little more time, want to make sure I test them out well!

It's Not A Magic Wand,

xox

Shop and Tell!

Here is a list of the things I picked up during this run, pictured above:

First Stop in this "Shop and Tell"--Sephora/Target and MAC!

1. e.l.f Cream Eyeliner in Black from Target--I love this so far! It goes on smooth with my angled eyeliner brush and it has always lasted me all day and is super black! For only $3.00 you really can't go wrong. (comes in a few other colors as well)

2. MAC See Sheer Lipstick--I purchased this because it was the perfect sheer medium pink tone for the wedding I was in this past weekend. I was wearing a navy dress and didn't want something so pigmented and matte because I was doing a rather dramatic eye look. On the other side of that, I didn't want to do something that would be too washed out, needless to say this was the perfect choice! It is a great shade that can be layered for maximum pigmentation, but like the name says, it can also be that perfect "bitten" sheer medium pink tone as well :) I definitely recommend this as part of one of your staple lipstick shades from MAC.

3. MAC Painterly Paint Pot--I wanted to try something new and have always wanted to get more paint pots. I use this as an alternative to my Urban Decay Primer Potion. I love this because it is heavier and provides more even coverage on top of being an amazing primer.  I am totally loving this so far and look forward to purchasing most of the other shades as well.

4. Sephora Nano Eyeliners in Pearl Beige and Azure Blue--These little things (literally only a few inches) are great! I love the pigmentation and I really love all the shades they are available in!

5.DUO Lash Glue in the dark tone-- Special Occasions call for lashes! I picked this one up as an alternative to another one I had that was regular white--I love that it dries dark and it for sure held my lashes all night! :)

6. Makeup Forever Mat Velvet Foundation--I used this for the first time last weekend, literally the day after I purchased it. I was nervous, because I have never used a foundation at all before, but figured for a wedding where lots of pics are being taken, I should have something.  I love this foundation--although it is a thicker formula (so I hear in comparison to others) with a light hand, it can give you just the coverage you need. It also kept me matte for the majority of the night! Perfect shade as well. Definitely will use this again.

7.Urban Decay All Nighter Spray--I have heard of this a ton of times and was always meaning to pick it up. Sometimes when I go out for special occasions, I am out well into the evening and want my makeup to last me.  This worked without a doubt for me, 7 hours and my makeup didn't budge at all!

Next up, my final leg of the shopping voyage this week, Bath and Body Works.  I love when my house smells good, it just makes me happy honestly! haha I love the fall because of the wonderful colors and scents that come along with it.  Bath and Body Works is the perfect place to find all of the candles that capture the best scents of the Fall season and you are guaranteed to have a yummy smelling house!

1. 4 oz. Candles in:
       --Creamy Pumpkin
       --Kitchen Spice
       --Smores--MY Favorite of the bunch--oh my goodness, smells JUST like real smores!!
       --Mountain Leaves
       --Pumpkin Caramel Latte--Another Favorite, sweet pumpkin like something from Starbucks haha
       --Homemade Cookies (not pictured because I gave it  to my boyfriend's sister, she's quite the baker! lol)

2. Mini Candle in Marshmallow Fireside--this is a mini that I got free with a coupon but smells so good that I will be returning to purchase the big size asap!

3. Mini Anti-bacterial to-go in:
       --Chocolate Chew (not pictured because I gave this to my boyfriend's sister as well!)
       --Cranapple Crisp
       --Phantom Pumpkin
       --Bat Bite Apple
       --Creamy Pumpkin

4. Wall Flower in Japanese Cherry Blossom (I will insert a pic of it below as I hastily put it up in my bathroom) haha

Well that completes my Shop and Tell.  I hope you all like the setup--I took less space with the pics and did more explaining, because that is what this is about after all right?! :)



Cozy Autumn Smells and Blissful Beauty,

xox