I'm back! And I'm the proud owner of the gorgeous, perfect Urban Decay Naked 3 palette. When I saw the teaser images for this palette, my little heart skipped a beat...
I'm happy to say I'm absolutely in love with every single shade in the Naked 3 palette. Where the Naked palette was aimed at golds and warm neutrals, and Naked 2 was silvers and cool neutrals, the Naked 3 is all about rose gold! Every shade has a slight pink or mauve undertone to them, and I love the way it works with my skin tone.
Here are the swatches! I took the descriptions from Urban Decay's site.
Strange: Pale, neutral pink matte-satin
Dust: Pale metallic pink shimmer w/ iridescent micro-glitter
Burnout: Light pinky-peach satin
Limit: Light dusty rose matte
Buzz: Metallic rose shimmer w/ silver micro-glitter
Blackheart: Smoky black matte w/ rosy red micro-sparkle
Like I said, I'm in love with every single color. They're all amazing quality, as is expected with Urban Decay shadows, and all of them are pretty accurate to their descriptions. Blackheart is a little misleading just because if apply the color normally, you really won't catch any of the red glitter in your look. It is pretty much invisible, even in a swatch, but may possibly stick out more if you use some kind of mixing medium or something like that. It's still a beautiful color, just don't expect to notice the glitter when your actually wearing it.
I have been using this palette for the last few weeks as I've had all my other makeup boxed up for our move. We just bought a house (pictures to come eventually!) and I've had very little time for makeup, but have used this palette for my daily eye looks. It's very versatile and I've come up with a ton of beautiful new looks. I did a tutorial of one of my favorites!
Once again, a LOT has been up since my last post. After the wedding Steve and I got right to house hunting, which has pretty much taken over our lives since the end of September.
We found a house, our offer has been accepted and (hopefully) we'll be moving in by the end of this month! This means busy busy busy and little time for filming, but I really wanted to get one done that I've been meaning to do for months now.
I've attempted putting this video together a few times now and each time I've failed miserably for reasons unknown... I finally took the time to get it done right and voila! My Top 5 Foundations for Pale Skin vid!
I know for me its always a challenge to find a foundation that actually suits my skin since I'm so damn pale, o I decided to put this together to show you my favorites for the shade/formula/finish/etc. For all you pasty girls out there, I hope this helps! Please don't forget to drop a comment and like the video! I'd love to know what foundations/products you love :)
It's over! I'm hitched! It's pretty nuts, but it's all over. 6 months of planning, all leading up to last Saturday where Steve and I finally got married :)
It was pretty sweet, I won't lie... All in all it was an amazing day, things ran very smoothly, and we had the perfect weather. Slightly overcast and didn't rain until all the shenanigans were over!
We got married in a picnic shelter in West St Paul, MN then took a party bus over to our reception spot.
I had my bridesmaids all pick an Edward Sung dress in Garnet, giving them the option to choose the style they liked best, while still staying cohesive. I was lucky enough to have a good friend do their hair as well as my own, and she made us all look AMAZING! LOVE YOU AMANDA!!! I ended up doing my own makeup, as well as my sisters. I made all the flowers out of paper, as seen in my last post. I made a video tutorial showing how to make the bouquets, centerpieces and boutonnieres.
Not a bad group of lovely ladies, if I do say so myself! My oldest sister was actually our photographer, so I was glad a friend got this picture that included her :) This one's getting framed for sure!
My buddy was also nice enough to take a picture of my hand made centerpieces in action!! They held up extremely well. They were a boat load of work, but I liked that they added a lot of creativity and uniqueness to my reception.
My mom actually made these super cute chair bouquets for the ceremony! She did them all herself!
This was our program/guestbook/tissue/bubble table. I got a bunch of super cute champagne bottle bubbles for the guests and designed the programs myself.
WOOO!!! My boss bouquet in action! I'm rather proud...
My whole wedding party! (minus my oldest sister, taking the picture!) I love how the dresses/flowers/suits worked out. EXACTLY what I wanted! I couldn't be happier! Everyone looked amazing.
And that's a wrap! I married the man of my dreams and had an amazing night. I'm so grateful to all my friends and family for supporting us and making the day perfect.
Now, back to real life! I have time to myself again and will be filming ASAP! I'm getting over a cold, so haven't started just yet, but have a few ideas of videos I want to shoot soon.
Eep - I know I'm a week late, but absence makes the heart grow fonder... or something...
Any'who, I decided to make a tutorial showing how I made my DIY flowers or my upcoming wedding (2 weeks away!!)
I used 3 different types, fancy roses, swirly roses and fancy swirly roses :)
I'll post the link to the blog I got the template for the stencils of the fancy roses, otherwise I just learned by youtubing/pinteresting.
Going with paper flowers was a very affordable, but time consuming decision. I decided on them about 2 weeks in to our engagement, and finished everything I needed about 4 weeks before the wedding... So about a solid 5 months of off and on work. The centerpieces were by far the worst, and the bouquets took me about 3-4 hours a piece. It was worth it though, because I paid about $150 for all the materials used instead of $600-$800 minimum of what it would have cost to go with a florist for everything. WIN!
I know I know, I'm slacking on posting. In my defense, it's less than a month away from my wedding and I've been planning this bitch myself hahaha I DO have a post coming soon, one that I meant to get up sooner, but what can you do. I did a video review on a lip product, so keep an eye out for that in the next week, I swear!
On to Gaga! Lady Gaga's single Applause came out this week along with the official music video, and all I gotta say is I can not wait until 11.11.13!!! I'm a massive Gaga fan and loooved her last album, but gotta admit, I was getting a little tired of the constant frowns and latest moody music videos she released. I was really glad that this newest video actually had her smiling and looking like she was having fun again (I know, I'm a geek!!!)
The video is weird as hell, as is expected from Mother Monster, but I love it!
See you later this week with a new beauty post! (I PROMISE)
...well maybe not EVER, but pretty awesome news! So I was at a Target in Fridley, MN on Mother's Day and while taking a peek in the makeup isle, I found.........
When the hell did Target start selling NYX!? So far Fridley is the only store I've seen it in but it's only a matter of time until it's in every store! (I hope...) NYX is one of my favorite makeup brands ever and to be able to get it at 15% off?? (w/ my employee discount) WOO!!! Heaven! So that was a lovely little find. I didn't actually buy anything because I was in a rush but I really hope to find it in my stores soon!
****UPDATE****
They added one in the Knollwood, MN store! WOO!!
I DID get this month's Glam Bag in the mail (www.ipsy.com) and I must say it's probably my favorite one to date. It came with some really great products and a bonus full size Urban Decay Stardust shadow in Space Cowboy.
The other products that came were a Mirabella lip tint, a gorgeous soft blue Zoya nail polish, a Yaby concealer refill, a Juice Beauty reflecting gloss and lastly, a St Tropez self-tanner.
I really love the shade they sent for the Mirabella lip tint. It's packaged like a lipstick but it's not extremely opaque and just gives a really pretty glow of color on the lips. I love the UD Stardust shadow I got. I already had a sample from ages ago in violet (can't remember the name) and it seems like they've reformulated it since then. The color is really pretty and subtle, but gives a nice pop of glitz over any look. Again, I LOVE the nail polish and have been a long time fan of Zoya polishes, so no complaints there. I'd never used Yaby concealers before but I tried it on my under eyes and it seemed to do the trick fine. Had good coverage without being too heavy and didn't set in any of my fine lines. The shade was just a bit too dark for me for every day use, but I would consider buying it full size in my shade in the future.
The only 2 products I wasn't crazy about was the Juice Beauty gloss and the self-tanner. I don't tan, so nothing against the product itself, but I'll probably be giving that to one of my friends as a gift. I didn't really like the consistency of the gloss. Since it was promoted as a "reflecting" gloss, I'm assuming it wasn't meant to have a ton of color payoff or be used alone, but it basically just felt like water on my lips. I tried it alone and on top of a lipstick and it just felt like it made my lipstick slip around. It also didn't seem like it had enough shimmer/glow to it to be used strictly as a "spot of shine" for the lips either, so unless I figure out how to work with it, I probably won't be getting much use out of it.
So that's about what I've had going on makeup/beauty wise. I did also finally order the Nude-Tude palette from the Balm which I'm really looking forward to. I ordered it off Hautelook for 50% off, so its taking a while to ship. Once it's in I'll be sure to post pics/swatches and 1st impressions!
Lastly, a random Instagram pic! Datenight selfie fail! :)
I'm taking a quick step away from my usual posts about beauty and entertainment to talk about marriage equality. I've been thinking about posting this for a long time, but wanted to make sure I had all my thoughts in order before posting so as not to muddle my message. To be honest, while originally drafting this last week, my message was a pretty pissed off one. I intended to wait to publish this until June to celebrate Pride Month and had been re-working it over and over because I wasn't satisfied with what I was saying. The news that Minnesota is officially supporting marriage equality completely changed my mood about this entire rant and in the last few hours, I've re-worked it and am finally satisfied enough with it to put out there. I know what I have here could never sufficiently convey the importance of accepting marriage equality and equal rights but I hope it's a decent enough display of what I feel.
I was overjoyed to find out we passed the same-sex marriage bill. That being said, what I originally planned to write about was how debating whether there should be marriage equality infuriates me, because THERE SHOULD BE NO DEBATE. I'm a firm believer in equal rights for gay or straight people, because there should be equal rights for ALL people. Its basic common sense to me and the fact that all humans getting the same rights is being debated at all pisses me off to no end. The sheer stupidity of the argument and the fact that it's taking so much time and money to fight about something that should be a given makes me ashamed of the country I live in. This is something I refuse to see the "other side of the argument" of because I can't see any validity in "the other side". I'm relieved and thankful that my state is now on the right side of the argument, but wish the rest of the country would get the picture already.
We shouldn't have to fight about the fact that gay and lesbians should be allowed the same rights as heterosexuals. It's in essence the same bullshit debate we had in the 60's on whether or not interracial marriage should be legal. The fact that it took our country until 1967 to finally legalize interracial marriage in all 50 states is sad and embarrassing. I look at this fact in 2 ways.
Anger that its been less than 50 years since such a massive law was overturned, and anger that almost 50 years later we're still exhibiting the same ignorance and idiocy by continuing the cycle of senseless hate and discrimination against the LGBT community.
It's pathetic that as a nation we seem simply incapable of not having some group to repress and hate for one reason or another. We're not content to be peaceful, we need to fight and shame others to feel better about ourselves.
I'll admit that as a non-religious person, I can often times be a little over critical of religion as a whole, but I have to say the argument that gays and lesbians marrying "ruins the institution of marriage because the Bible says so" is complete and absolute bullshit.
I don't hate religion, I don't hate religious people. Most of the people I know who practice organized religion I respect greatly because while they hold strong in their faith, they have enough personal integrity to build their own morals and have enough common sense to tell right from wrong. They're able to take what's good from their religion and apply it in their daily lives to better themselves inside and out. They're not saints and they don't try to act like they are. That's a wonderful thing.
What is not wonderful, are the people that use their "beliefs" as a weapon to back up their attacks on others with their own prejudices "in the name of the father our God almighty, thank you baby Jesus". They preach love and peace but discriminate and judge anyone who doesn't live life the same as them. This wouldn't be such a huge deal if our government wasn't stock full of these people. I refuse to respect or entertain those who use their religion as a shield to give them an excuse to act like pricks.
For anyone out there who likes to nit pick the Holy Book to find passages that can be used to back up your hate, take a look at this wonderful site that highlights some of the best Bible verses that people seem to forget:
A few gems and things to remember next time before quoting your favorite book:
The Bible hates women
To the women he said "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. (Gen. 3:16)
the woman should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but shall be subordinate, as even the law says.
If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Cor. 14:34-35)
I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.
For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
and Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Yet women will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty. (1 Tim. 2:12-15)
The Bible hates masturbation, pre-marital sex and promotes child abuse. Withold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shall beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
The Bible restricts haircuts, clothing and tattoos.
You shall not make any cutting in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:28)
The Bible is prejudice against divorce for any reason. It states if you divorce and re-marry, you and your new spouse are adulterers. Adultery is one of the 10 commandments... The Bible also says adultery is punishable by death...
It says interracial marriage is condemned because God intended to keep the races separate, but later justifies interracial marriage after Moses marries a black woman. Recreational alcohol consumption is prohibited, we're not supposed to work on Sundays and medical science is not to be valued.
So with everything the Bible restricts and condemns, why is it that we aren't stoning divorcees, shaming women for speaking in public or blasting people for having drinks on their nights off work?
Instead, we're ignoring all the shit in the Bible that pertains to us or would be too hard not to follow and are focusing our discriminations on anyone who isn't us and people who just want the freedom to love and marry who they want.
What this all basically comes down to is a request to ask people to really take a hard, honest look into themselves and their lives. Own up to any discriminations you have and be human enough not to let that sway you in to acting out against a group of people that in no way shape or form affect you personally. I know that's why it's so easy for some people to look away from the wrongs they're doing because gay people being unable to legally marry "doesn't affect them", but neither does allowing them to legally marry.
I'm not saying every person needs to accept homosexuals with open arms or change your personal views about whether you agree or disagree with the lifestyle, but for the love of GOD, practice what you preach and treat others as you would like to be treated. Don't vote against or act out against the LGBT communities right to practice what THEY believe and love who they love. They're not trying to ruin your lives, they're just trying to enjoy theirs to the fullest and I don't believe there's any single rational opposing argument as to why they shouldn't be able to do so. And if your argument is backed in any way by religion or the Bible, it's not rational. See above if you need a refresher. Unless you're one of the few who takes everything in the Bible and practices it honestly and STILL hates gays and lesbians, you can't hide behind that excuse.
If you want to read/hear more, here's a few posts/videos I really enjoyed.
I wanted to add this post as the below post as one writer's response to their dislike of being called a bigot. It goes down like this... the writer is pissed that people who don't support equal rights are being called bigots. The writer posts examples from the Bible where central figures or events are being discriminatory and then they ask "Was Moses being a bigot? Was this disciple being a bigot? Is GOD a bigot here?" Though the writer may disagree, the answer is YES. :) enjoy! http://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume37/GOT037011.html
Aaaand a great short film that make it painfully clear how much it would suck if the tables were turned and "heterophobia" was the popular belief. It hurts to be hated, go figure.
LAST but not least, once more, THANK YOU MINNESOTA!!! Today's an AMAZING DAY!!!
Surprise surprise, I'm going with a retro look for my wedding. I'm trying to make sure I get the vintage pieces I like without going over the top or overkilling the theme. I want everything to be simple and beautiful, elegant but still casual enough for everyone to have a great time.
My lovely ladies :) I wasn't very interested in making my girls wear the same dresses. All I really care about is that the dresses are red, short, and that the girls feel beautiful in them! I decided to go with Alfred Sung dresses, so my bridesmaids could choose the style of dress they're most comfy in while staying the same color and relatively same look. Above are the styles they chose. My maid of honor to the far left, then my sisters and Steve's sisters to the right. Very cute if I say so myself! Can't wait to see it all in person!!
They will all be in black shoes with subtle jewelry. Not sure what I want to do for them for flowers yet... more to come on that!
I've always said I wanted "Reservoir Dogs" for the guys in my wedding and thankfully Steve was on board! All the guys will be wearing plain black suits with thin black ties. Steve will get a red boutonniere and the rest of the guys will get white.
Since I decided to go with paper flowers, I've been skimming through Pinterest for ideas on what to do for centerpieces. I originally planned to do real flowers, under water in vases with candles floating on top. Once I said farewell to doing real flowers, I thought I could do little vases full of paper flowers, but that sounded a little too plain. Then I found the above arrangement and fell in love! Especially because it's using the style of flowers I already figured I'd go with :) I want to do little flower wreaths around a vase and may or may not put a candle inside... we'll see, they'd have to be taller vases to make sure nothing starts on fire... Bleh, so much to consider!
These are the colors/styles I'll be using.
I'm still not 100% set up on what I want to do with my hair, but I really do like the above picture. I like that it's simple, classic and could be taken down if I felt like it later in to the night. I'm doing a few trials to see if I'd be able to pull it off myself, otherwise I'll look in to tracking down a stylist for the big day.
And lastly, make up. Nothing too surprising there, I want to go with a subtle, simple wing liner look with bold red lips. Subtle blush and maybe a little contouring for the pictures.
That's what I have so far! For all the stress planning a wedding causes, the styling of it really is the fun part. I want the look to be classic, creative and unique, without breaking the bank!!!
If anyone has any decorating tricks, tips or DIY's, please comment below! I'm very open to suggestions and will appreciate anything ideas :)
I've been too busy to do any real beauty related business in the last few weeks, but I thought it'd be fun to do a little rant about one of the shows I've been obsessing over instead.
I've been watching Hannibal since it started airing last month and instantly fell in love. When I heard it was going to be a Bryan Fuller project, I swear my little heart stopped and I had to force it to get going again. I was a HUGE fan of Pushing Daisies and loved the style and beauty of the work he did to make every shot as gorgeous as it possibly could be on that show.
It was incredibly sad and frustrating when the show was cancelled after the 2nd season. Critics and fans all agreed it was a masterpiece, but too unique and thoughtful and AWESOME for the average TV viewer. (Yes, that's my opinion with obvious spite, but whatever...moving on...)
So hearing that the man who brought me one of my favorite shows was now going to do a serial killer drama... it felt like a match made in heaven. My only concern is that the same thing will happen to Hannibal that happened to Pushing Daisies. It doesn't hold back at all artistically, once again every single shot is artwork, and I swear to God food has never been filmed to look so freaking beautiful, which is wonderful because no matter what, the beauty is tarnished in your head because you KNOW that isn't rabbit!!!
But regardless of how original and well done a show is, Pushing Daisies made it clear if the masses don't jump on board, the show will tank.
Hannibal isn't without flaws. The writing does at times get a little over the top and some of the dialogue gets so dramatic you find yourself giggling because it passes the line in to silly, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. "Don't psychoanalyze me. You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed." It helps break the tension when needed to give you a breath of fresh air considering you're watching a show about serial killers and cannibals.
All in all though I've been incredibly satisfied with the show. The acting is great, Mads Mikkelsen is a PERFECT Hannibal Lector and though Hugh Dancy's American accent gets a little wonky here and there, you still love him in all his awkward, overdramatic glory. The only character who seems particularly out of place is Lawrence Fishburne as Jack Crawford. Why is he so bipolar? Why can't he do anything himself? And WHY does he go to dinner at Hannibal's like...EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!?
Lastly, the crimes so far have been awesome. From a Minnesota Man kidnapping college girls to eat them for dinner to a guy growing mushrooms off corpses, the killers are definitely unique, twisted and really fun to watch. You absolutely have to have a love of things morbid and creepy to enjoy this show, but that should be obvious from the title alone. If there's Hannibal in it, it's going to be f$#%d up. Don't be one of those people that turns on the show and gets pissed that it's violent and scary. Well duh...
I definitely recommend this show to EVERYONE, because I'm crossing my fingers and toes that it does well and gets a 2nd season cleared. I'm a HUGE fan of the horror genre, and though the doors have opened considerably in recent years to networks becoming more accepting of darker content, it's still a struggle to get the masses on board and for a show to succeed when broadcasting violence and scares for our viewing pleasure.
OK!!!!! So finally back as promised with an update on all the crazy $*&^ that's been going on in my life in the last month. I have a hard time believing that it's all happened in just a month, but that's life!
Firstly, as my banner kind of makes obvious, I'm engaged! Steve proposed 3.8.13 and life's been absolutely nuts since! The proposal itself wasn't much of a surprise - we both knew it was gonna happen it was just a matter of getting the $$$ to make it happen. We went and picked out my ring the night he proposed and here it is!
I'm beyond in love with it! As you also probably noticed from the banner, we've set the date for 9.14.13, leaving us just barely 6 months to get the whole shebang put together. That was my choice. I'm a spazz about planning, stress and $$$, and had no desire whatsoever to stress about planning a wedding for a year or more.
Be that as it may, the time obviously also put us at a disadvantage to all those brides who DO plan years in advance, so I had to haul ass to find a ceremony/reception site in that short amount of time. So that's the majority of what I've been up to : )
Since last week, we've got the ceremony and reception site booked, my dress picked out and plans for decorations underway! I refuse to spend a billion dollars on this whole wedding thing, so I've been working with my family and friends to cut corners and DIY as much as possible to save cash and make the day more unique.
The main DIY I'm doing is all paper flowers. I wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE with little patience or imagination, but to anyone out there who wants to save (a LOT) of money and make their wedding more creative, try it out! Pretty much all my free time off work I've been spending on figuring out what kind of flowers I was going to do, testing different paper types and finally, getting down to business on making them.
These are what I've come up with so far. Our wedding colors are red/white/black so I kept that theme with the flowers. I'm doing some fancy roses and SUPER easy swirly roses and will use those to make boutonnieres, bouquets, centerpieces, and anything else that requires a flower. Now, that's a LOT of flowers. Hence the working on them now.
My theme for wedding preparations is to do a little every day, buy what I can when I can and don't have a billion things to do the weeks following up to the day. Obviously no matter what it'll still be hectic as hell but this way I'm getting at least some of my stuff out of the way and not worrying about everything all at once.
I'll maybe do a post later with more info on what the style for everything is going to look like, but my MAIN thing was I had to have red shoes. I've always wanted red shoes for my wedding, and I found this beautiful pair on Amazon for a crazy good deal. They're a bit tall, but surprisingly comfy, I just need to break them in.
I also know I'll be doing my own makeup, so I decided to splurge and invest in a fancy foundation. I tried out Lancôme's Teint Idole Ultra 24H Makeup. I tried the lightest shade they had, I believe it was in Ivory, and thought it looked fine in the store, but unfortunately it oxidized a ton when I actually tried it and I had to take it back. Thank god for Macy's awesome return policies :)
After that fail, I got a sample from the Estee Lauder counter and tried it out, and I THINK I fell in love. I'm still not 100% sure about the shade, but it's definitely better than the Lancôme one. I think it may be a bit yellow undertone for me, I'm more pink, but I'm pretty sure with my powder/concealer combo that it'll look fine. If not, try try again!
I got it in 1C1 Cool Bone. Crossing my fingers, I'm going to do a face comparison to that and my every day fave, Revlon's Nearly Naked in Ivory and I'll return it if it's way off.
I know this is kind of a random, tossed together post, but that's about what my life is right now. I'll hopefully be posting some wedding day makeup tutorials/ideas and more in general.
Hey all, it's been a long time! (I'm sorry!) LOTS has been going on so I've been a little busy and not able to post much.
I'll post later w/ updates my big news, but FIRST! I wanted to do a shout out to everyone to ask for your support on a crazy competition I've entered!
So most of you probably don't know, but I'm a crazy cat lady. Like legit cat lady. I have 2 cats, 1 tortoise shell named Bonnie and an exotic "short hair" named Hank. Hank's been nominated to be in a little competition, and she NEEDS VOTES!!
AmazeCats Next Top Cat is like American Idol for cats... Silly but fun, and I'm hoping to get her in the top 32 cats to be pitted against each other to win the prestigious title of NEXT TOP CAT!
Voting is open from today (3/22/13) to next Friday (3/29/13). That's all! Nothing but a quick click and it would mean the world to me and my goofy little furball :)
PHEW!
That's all for now, I'll be back SOON with updates and more on what's going on in my world. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOTE HANK!
I've been avoiding makeup shopping for the last several months to work on saving money, and well... because I know I basically have more than enough makeup to my name as it is. BUT, be that as it may, NYX recently released a ton of new products and I've been dying to try them out. SO, I took a trip to Ulta and came out with a few new (and not so new) things.
First off, not so new products I purchased was the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, a must have which I was running very low on. I also re-purchased the HD Photogenic Concealer in Fair. I LOVE this concealer. Its turned in to my favorite. Its medium to full coverage, but doesn't set in to fine lines and matches my foundation perfectly.
Now, on to new things!
I'm a big fan of the NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat powder, and when I saw they came out with a foundation I had to give it a go. First thoughts, after just using it once: I'm not really sure about it.
The color is *gasp* nearly to light for me!? I can still work with it, it's just very light. When I tested it on my hand, it appeared to be more on the full-coverage side, but when actually applying it to my face, it took a bit of work to get it blended and appeared to be more of a light-medium coverage. I'll have to do a more in depth review after I've used it a bit more.
A not new product, but new to me is the Jumbo Eye Pencil in Knight. When I swatched it, it looked like a black to almost mossy green shade with gold flecks in it. Very beautiful, and I think it will go great to make a simple smokey eye.
One thing I got that I was very excited about is the Collection Noir Powder Brown Liner. After my first use, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it. I really liked the idea of using it to give a less harsh, smoked out liner but it leaves a lot of fall out, and the product is VERY pigmented. I would advise against using it without something to catch the fall out or you could end up with raccoon eyes.
I bought 2 single eyeshadows. The first is the Nude Matte shadow in Underneathe It All. It's a medium warm brown shade that I thought would be perfect for defining the crease.
The 2nd is a Glam Shadow in Sparks. It's a cream/champagne shadow with gold glitter infused in it. It's a gorgeous color, but the glitter has some serious fall out you need to watch out for.
Finally, last but not least, I got the Love in Florence Palette in Meet My Romeo. I was attracted to the colors in this palette because they looked like they could be used to make a great natural/neutral look or a smoked out evening eye. Plus I fell instantly in love with the shimmery taupe. I created a quick eye look using this palette that you can see below.
I must say, I'm a tad disappointed with this palette. I was really hoping for more color payoff, especially with the 2 shimmery shades but as you can see in the above swatch, they came out very faint. I refused to give up on the palette though, and found foiling the shadows with a little water helped bring the color and metallic sheen out.
Above is me with just foundation/concealer and my brows done.
I started by applying the taupe color with a little water to the inner corners of the eyes to brighten up the look.
I also used water to apply a wash of the bronze all over the lid, up to the crease.
I used a pencil brush to add the matte light brown at the outer crease, bringing it up to about halfway across the eye.
I went over that with a small amount of the dark brown.
I blended the 2 brown shadows out with a fluffy brush to diffuse the harsh lines.
I applied the peach shade to the brow bone.
I used my favorite Physicians Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner in Deep Brown to line the eyes.
And applied a coat of black mascara to the top and bottom lashes.
And the eyes are complete!
I finished off the look with Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush in Warm and Covergirl lipstick in Delish.
Let me know if you've tried any of the new NYX products and if there are any must have's!
