December Ipsy Bag

Overall I'm impressed with this month's Ipsy bag.  I actually loveeeeedddddd the bag, but a lot of people on the website were complaining about how it wasn't festive.  Well I think it's festive and sleek and gorgeous.  It's shiny, black, with a diamond print and lined with red fabric.  I think this bag is great because if you carry a higher end bag, you wouldn't be embarssed pulling this one out for whatever reason.  Love it.  

I also love the products--the cologne and perfume sample were very large vials--you can def get some use out of this.  I find it odd that the sample had a men's cologne too, but maybe that's just because I don't have a man. LOLOLOL. I think I got my money's worth this month, and my favorite item would probably be the Bombshell multiple stick--I posted a swatch of it and the lipstick below.  Sooooo pretty ladies! 

December's Ipsy bag:

*Signature by English Laundry perfume and cologne sample

*Bombshell Multiple Stick in Flustered

*Nicka K nail polish in a red shade (no  name on the bottle anywhere--weird)

*POP eyeshadow trio

*NYX Round Lipstick in Baby Pink

Urban Decay F&F Haul

Here are the (only) two items I picked up during last week's Urban Decay  friends and family sale. I picked up the new revolution lipstick in 'shame' and the Vice 2 eyeshadow palette. The palette also comes with a dual sided eyeshadow brush.  It's an okay brush, but I personally don't think it's as nice as the brush in the Naked 2 palette.  I also got a free sample of the zero eyeliner pencil. It's black, but not as black as perversion, my favorite.  Check out the pics below!

Urban Decay Friends & Family SALE!!!

Urban Decay is currently having it's friends and family sale, which started today I believe.  Anywho, this is a great sale guys! 20% off your purchase, and free shipping (always) for purchases over $50.  I'm definitely using this opportunity to pick up the limited edition Vice 2 Palette. You guys might want to take a looksey!! I'm going to try and talk my mom into getting me a lipstick or two lol!

The code is: FFHOLIDAY13

The website is urbandecay.com !

Urban Decay's Holiday Lineup (Fall 2013)

Urban Decay announced it's Holiday lineup today! The collection is available online now, but it looks like a couple of items are not yet available (the highlight powder and the anarchy palette).  The collection will be sold in stores in the next few weeks or so, but for now you can only purchase online.  I have not actually seen the collection yet, but once I do I will update with more details on each item as well as swatches. For now, my info was compiled from Urban Decay.  If you want a full scoop of all the details plus amazing swatches, check out Christine's amazing post at Temptalia.  Also, check out the pics below. 

The set includes two eyeliner pencil sets (Black Market and Ocho Loco 2), a Vice 2 eyeshadow palette, two face palettes (Anarchy and Shattered), Heavy Metal eyeliner glitters, and a Naked Illuminated Shimmering Powder.

Photo Credit: Temptalia

Photo: Urban Decay

Photo: Urban Decay

Photo: Urban Decay

Photo: Urban Decay

Photo Credit: Temptalia

Photo Credit: Temptalia

Photo Credit: Temptalia

Mini Ulta Haul

I stopped into Ulta last night because they are currently running their 21 days of beauty, and there are some great deals in there.  I went for the Too Faced Shadow Insurance (eyelid primer) which was half off, so $10 instead of $20 for a full sized bottle.  That was a good deal IMO.  While there I also picked up this Natural Rebel set by Too Faced, which is exclusive to Ulta.  The set comes with Too Faced's Natural at Night eyeshadow set (gorgeous browns), a full sized Eyeliner pencil in Espresso, and a quad of lip gloss and creams.  I think it's a great value, considering the palette alone retails for $36.   So it's like you got the pencil and lip quad free!  Oh, and it comes with a free gift, which makes it a better value! Deluxe sized samples of Too Faced's shadow insurance and lip injection plumper.  Awesome.I can't wait to do looks using this baby soon.  I promise!

MAC Indulge Collection--Swatches of Eye, Lip, and Cheek

MAC's Indulge Collection is available in stores today.  I stopped at the MAC counter this morning just to swatch everything and check it out in person.  Pics are below.  So mad I forgot to take a pic of the fluidline swatches! I know I originally said they were glittery and what not and not cute at all, but seriously, in person, I wanted them!! They were much richer than I thought.  They are glittery, but when applied for me they still had color and weren't super sheer like I thought. 

Lipsticks left to right: Smash Hit, Feed the Senses, By Design, Sweet Succulence, and Just A Bite.

Lipglasses left to right: Ultimate Design, Fashion Punch, Liqueur, Lust for Life, and Utterly Tart.

Cremeblend Blush: Top to Bottom: Tease Your Tastes and Glamour Feast.

Eyeshadows left to right: Eat Love, Palace Pedigree, Three Ring Yellow, Beluga, Deep Cravings, Divine Decadence, Gilty Morsel, and S** and the Oyster.

Marc Jacobs Beauty--Swatched at Sephora

So during my Sephora trip I also swatched a few items from the new Marc Jacobs beauty line. I swatched a couple of the eyeshadow palettes (which were pretty impressive).  The palettes retail for $59, a bit steep.  Or a lot steep lol.  I swatched three of the glosses, which retail for $28.  They were okay, I wasn't overly impressed or anything, but lip gloss isn't my "thing" so maybe that's why.  They weren't magical or unlike anything I've ever had before. I think the standout item for me was Highliner Gel Crayon Eyeliner, which retails for $25.  There were six colors on display, Blackquer, Jazz(Berry), Ro(Cocoa), N(Ice), Intro(Vert), and Th(Ink).  These gel eye pencils are waterproof and color intense.  They really do not budge at all, and take some serious eye makeup remover and arm strength to completely remove.  I really really liked these.  Would I ever purchase them? Not sure, at least not right now.  I do love the Intro(Vert) color though! Check out the pics below.

MAC Pro Palettes Steeply Discounted

I don't know if any of you guys use MAC's palettes for easy storage, they're marked down to super discounted prices.  I'm not sure if MAC is getting rid of them or re-doing them, but if you've ever wanted them and thought they were too pricey, now is the time to stock up.  The single and duo palettes (that you need inserts for) as well as the 4-quad eyeshadow palette are all $8.00.  The inserts for the single and duo palettes are all $2.00.  To put this into perspective, I believe the duo palette prices were $25.00 and the inserts were $12-15.00.  That's a big difference.  The benefit in having a palette is that you can order the "refill pan" of eyeshadows and blushes, and they are cheaper than the regular price that come in the MAC packaging.  Regular price eyeshadows are $15.  Palette refill pans are $10.  That's $5 difference.  Only thing is you have to put them in a palette of some sort to hold them.  It's great and economical from that standpoint if you buy/have a ton of MAC eyeshadows.  (Can I make an argument about the environment too??)

NARS Fall Collection 2013

NARS Fall Collection 2013 is available now.  It's a nice collection, featuring warm pretty colors, but I'm not sure if it's cohesive (in my mind).  There are some standout items, but I'm not sure if the entire collection, for me personally, blends.  Or works together completely.  Sometimes collections seem random, or seem that not all the colors in a collection work well with each other.  And I kind of get that impression from this one.  Again, just my opinion.  Check out the details below.

This collection features:

• Pure Matte Lipstick-$26
• La Paz (Deep, orchid purple)
• Peloponnese (Ginger pink)
• Velvet Lip Pencil-$25
• Mysterious Red (Deep, crimson red)
• Paimpol (Pink Chiffon)
• Nail Polish (Opaque)-$19
• Fury (Regal Purple)
• Galathee' (Dove Grey)
• Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner-$24
• Las Rambas (Yellow Gold)
• Via De' Martelli (Chocolate)
• Eyeshadow-$24
• Bavaria (Shimmer-Deep sea blue)
• Yamal (Matte-Maple sugar)
• Namibia (Matte-Grey moon)
• Kamchatka (Matte-Navy smoke)

This collection is available now at Nars Cosmetics (online), and Nordstrom. These are some pics of the products from the website. Nothing fancy, just off my iPhone, sorry.

Mini Haul from MAC'S Nudes and Metallics Collection

So originally I said I wasn't going to get anything from this collection, but ultimately I changed my mind.  I picked up two nude lipsticks (in my quest for the ultimate perfect shade for me) and one eyeshadow.  I was going to get two, but I waited too long and Brazenly was unavailable.  I saw swatches from these eyeshadows online and they were absolutely gorgeous and contrary to MAC's tendency to underperform in the eyeshadow department, all of these shadows were gorgeous in color and highly pigmented!! I did not order any of the nudes because I have so many nude palettes that I just could not justify it. I'm still on the lookout for Brazenly though.  It's gorgeous and I NEED it in my life!!!! Check out the swatches below!  The collection is sold out completely now in all shadows, and the only lipsticks available are the metallic ones.  and wholesome and restrained from the nudes. Both blushes were still available last I checked.

Left to Right: Nearly Nude and Wholesome lipsticks, then Crimson Tryst eyeshadow.

Too Faced Pretty Rebel Palette-Limited Edition (PICS Only)

Too Faced Fall 2013 Collection

Hey Guys! So here's my first Fall 2013 post.  Too Faced will release, for their fall collection, a new eyeshadow palette, Pretty Rebel, Lip Injection Color Bombs, and Glitter Glaze.  I know for a fact that the eyeshadow palette is limited edition, but I'm not 100% certain whether the lip bombs and the glitter glaze are limited edition as well.  I will look into that and update.  These are available online now at Sephora. 

Pretty Rebel Eyeshadow Palette-Limited Edition-$46

Pretty Rebel is a ten shadow palette, and I won't get into details about it BECAUSE I ACTUALLY JUST GOT IT IN THE MAIL TODAY AND WILL DO AN ENTIRE REVIEW!  Lol...sorry for the caps!  

Lip Injection Color Bombs-$21

Too Faced's Lip Injection Color Bombs are lip pencils that claim to be super moisturizing plump lip tints.  They come in 6 shades: Never Enough Nude, Coral Pop, Plump It Up Pink, Eastwood Red, Bigger Berry and Candy Burst.  These have vitamins A, C, E and mango butter.  I'm sure these will live up to the promise of providing moisture. Pigment? I'd have to check them out first. 

Too Faced Glitter Glaze Transforming Shadow Topcoat-$21

Now these look super interesting to me! I haven't seen anything like it.  These shadow topcoats are available in 2 shades, Goldie Rocks and Silver Spark.  These can be worn alone for nice shimmer, or you can put them on top of your eyeshadow for a"metallic" look. I'm not normally a fan of super sparkle, but I might pick one of these up just to see how it transforms eyeshadow.

It also seems that they are promoting the Better Than S** Mascara with this collection too.