guerlain

Tweaking my makeup collection has been a priority lately. I've tried lots of items from different brands, and am really discovering what I like and don't like. I'm trying my best to get rid of things I'm not particularly fond of and don't use, and really wanted to introduce some more luxurious items into my collection. These palettes were at the top of my list.

After months of indecisiveness I finally purchased two Guerlain Ecrin 6 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palettes in Rue des Francs-Bourgeois and Champs-Elysees. When I'd heard about an upcoming 20% off promotion from Sephora, I knew I had to pull the trigger and since I couldn't decide which I liked better, I got both. 

I've had them for weeks, but haven't used them yet, mainly because I wanted to photograph them first, but also because they're so pretty and I'm not quite ready to dig in yet and mess them up. These palettes are absolutely gorgeous, the packaging is stunning and the quality is unquestionable.

hanamichi

I went a little overboard at the NARs counter at Lord & Taylor a few weeks ago and this palette was definitely the belle of the ball. It's the Hanamichi eyeshadow palette, part of the NARs Kabuki collection, which features four shadows in a mirrored compact and a beautiful mini brush. I'd seen it online and was intrigued, but when I saw it in person I knew almost immediately that it'd be going home with me.

Get yours here.

brushing up

I simply couldn't resist picking up some makeup brushes on Hautelook today by Crown Brush. I've been curious about this brand of brushes for a while and am excited to finally give them a try. I ended up going with a 15 piece professional brush set ($37.50) and a 10 piece badger brush set ($41.50). 

25 brushes later it becomes even more apparent that I rarely do things on a small scale.

...photos from Hautelook.com...

tarte for true blood

As a huge fan of the True Blood series on HBO I checked this palette out online as soon as it was released. I wasn't that impressed by the colors when I saw them on my computer screen and had very little experience with Tarte products. I'd only ever used Tarte's EmphasEYES Amazonian clay waterproof clay eyeliner in three colors, and loved them all, but they completely dried out before I could put a dent in any of the pots which was a total bummer and waste of money at $22 a pop.

This palette stayed in the back of my mind and I finally got a chance to see it in person a couple of weeks ago and was instantly sold. The packaging has a ton of personality and the colors inside are gorgeous. The spectrum is covered with both neutrals and bold colors and mattes and shimmers, so the possibilities are endless. It retails for $52 and includes 17 - 0.07oz eyeshadows, and EmphasEYES Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in black, Lights Camera Lashes! Mascara in black and a Lifted Natural Eye Primer. 

The colors in the palette are as follows (descriptions per Sephora.com):

The Light (shimmering warm ivory)
Fairy (shimmering pink)
Dusk (matte warm 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 (sparking warm rose)
The True Death (sparkling silver)
Immortal (sparkling midnight black)
Moss (shimmering forest green)
Legend (deep matte black)
V (sparkling crimson)

Get yours here.

hideaway

I picked up two sets of the Sterilite Clearview Wide 3 Drawer Unit at Walmart for about $16 each with makeup organization in mind and they have been a huge hit, especially with Jay who loves the idea of my stuff NOT being all over our apartment. I have them stacked on my dresser.

Starting from the bottom up:

Excess body sprays...
The operative word here is EXCESS;  I have another stash stuffed on a shelf. 

Palettes...

I've got two 88 shadow palettes, a 40 shadow palette, my 12 blush palette and several Urban Decay shadow palettes. I use the Naked Palette the most which is why it's front and center.

Foundations, pressed powders, loose powders, concealers, tinted moisturizers, illuminizers...
I've acquired quite a few of these products in the past year; I really wanted to put some drugstore brands to the test.

Blushes, bronzers, lipglosses and lipsticks...

Lipgloss was the first form of makeup that I got into. This year I've started experimenting with lipsticks and lip pencils. 

Eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascaras...
Over the years I've grown a nice collection of shadows. This year I shifted my focus to palettes, but I still reach for the individual, duo and quad shadows every now and then.

All the extras --- Unopened goodies, brushes, contacts, eyelashes, miscellaneous tools...

I always try to keep extra sponges and powder puffs for my compacts so I can replace them on a regular basis.

Brushes and applicators sit on top, all of which are in desperate need of a bath...
I have a lot of MAC brushes, but I also really like brushes from Coastal Scents and drugstore brands like Posh and Sonia Kashuk.

Getting everything organized was a great way of taking inventory and sorting out the products that were expired, that I no longer used or liked or that weren't right for me. I used to have stacks, bags, baskets of makeup scattered all over. Having everything in one place helps me get a lay of the land when it comes to using products and putting together looks. It's great to know that I can reach for something and find it immediately. 

the waiting game

I've been legitimately stalking this Make Up Forever palette for about 3 weeks. It's on the Sephora site, but it's not available yet. Talk about mind games; Sephora is seriously toying with my emotions here. 

I'm pumped about this because it'll be my first MUFE purchase (not counting the foundation I bought and exchanged twice, before ultimately returning) and because it's $45 and includes eight shadows and two brushes. I've also been on a eyeshadow palette binge, that I'm not quite over yet. I'm consciously working on overhauling my makeup collection to include items that I truly love, are great quality and that I'll get the most use out of.

...photo from Sephora.com...

haul monitor - urban decay cosmetics

Liquid Liners x 3 - $7/ea, originally $18/ea

Cream Shadows x 8 - $3/ea, originally $17/ea

 Loose Pigments x 5 (in Goddess, Gunmetal, Rockstar, Protest) - $1/ea, originally $20/ea

Big Fatty Mascara (waterproof) x 2 - $10/ea, originally $20/ea

Clean & Sober Oil-Free Makeup Remover x 3 - $3/ea, originally $18/ea

I, admittedly, went a little overboard here, but the prices were just too good to pass up.

...photos from UrbanDecay.com...

custom-made

I've been hearing great things about the blushes from La Femme and finally decided to order some. The blushes are $3 each, but if you get them in the pan only they are $2.50. I wanted so many that I decided to create a custom palette of my own through a feature offered by Makeup Mania called The Palette Lab. The 12 blush palette is $35. You can pick each of the colors you'd like included in your palette and you can even arrange them in the order of your choosing.

My final blush choices were Fuchsia, Framboesia, Magenta, Mandarin Red, Red, Golden Sunset, Redwood, Sienna, Clove, Grape, Purple Passion and Bordeaux. From the quick swatches I did, I can tell that they are highly pigmented and they seem to be pretty long lasting considering the trouble I had removing them from my fingers and hand. I can't wait to dip into this palette!

swatch watch - urban decay 15 year anniversary eyeshadow collection

 

I was so excited about this collection mainly because I really love the other three Urban Decay palettes that I own (Naked Palette, Black Palette, Deluxe Shadow Box). I've been so pleased with the quality of the Urban Decay shadows, in terms of color and pigmentation, but also because they are so long lasting. I can do an endless variety of looks with them and am still discovering new color combinations and have pretty much abandoned my other shadows in favor of those in my Urban Decay palettes. The other reason I was super excited about this collection is because it features 15 all new colors.

This particular palette retails for $55 and contains 15-0.05 oz shadows; so the price of each shadow is about $3.66. Urban Decay individual shadows retail for $17 each and are also 0.05 oz.

Aside from being a fantastic bargain, the packaging of the collection is gorgeous the shadows themselves are beautiful. I'm especially loving the blues, greens and purples. The palette contains the following shadows (descriptions from Sephora.com):

Midnight Rodeo - Medium metallic brown with silver and gold glitter
Midnight 15 - Oyster pearl with silver glitter
Vanilla - Shimmery white gold
Flow - Soft peach shimmer
Chase - Metallic bright bronze
Tainted - Pale matte purple with golden shimmer
Junkshow - Bright pink with fuchsia shift
Omen - Shimmery metallic bright purple with blue shift
Evidence - Deep metallic blue
Deep End - Bright teal shimmer
Deeper - Deep shimmery golden brown
M.IA. - Soft shimmery dark brown
Ace - Dark gunmetal shimmer
Blackout - Darkest, most saturated black
Half Truth - Shimmery smoky purple


Get yours now from Sephora, Ulta or Urban Decay.