Favorite Pre-Fall Makeup Looks #1 & #2

Two of my favorite looks for the early months of Fall 2012!

Look #1 includes items from MAC Cosmetics, Dior, & Too Faced:

Full product list:
- Prime Time Primer
- Amazing Cosmetics Concealer
- Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 110
- Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil to set
- NARS Mata Hari blush
- Too Faced Pink Leopard bronzer
- MAC eyeshadows: Vanilla, Naked Lunch, Era, & Satin Taupe
- Dior Extreme Addict Lipstick in Bow Cherie
- Dior Addict Gloss in 157
- Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara

Look #2 includes items from Urban Decay, MAC Cosmetics, & Chanel:

Full product list:
- Bare Escentuals Prime Time Primer
- Amazing Cosmetics Concealer
- Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact in Beige Rose 22
- Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush
- MAC Cosmetics Mineralized Skinfinish in Medium
- Bare Escentuals Full Face Brush
- Too Faced 'Who's your Poppy?' blush
- Sonia Kashuk blush brush
- Too Faced Pink Leopard bronzer
- Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair blush brush
- Too Faced Candlelight Highlighter
- Sephora fan brush
- Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette: Bootycall, Suspect, Tease, & Snakebite
- Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow brush
- Urban Decay lid primer
- MAC Cosmetics lipstick in Patissiere
- MAC Cosmetics lip glass in Evolution Revolution

One of my favorite every day looks from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette so far!

I've started to really enjoy playing with the Naked 2 eye shadow palette and trying to blend different colors together. I occasionally also mix colors together from the original Naked palette as well. Once I really started using the colors in different ways, I found that there is definitely enough difference between the two palettes to justify owning both! They both have some unique colors that are still neutral enough for every day and having the additional palette to pull colors from has been great!

Here's a look I'm loving as a nice, neutral every day "stay at home mom on the go" type of look...

Verve across the lid up & to the brow, Tease across the lid, Pistol in the crease blended out, and a bit of Busted in the center of the crease to darken it even more. (Virgin from the original Naked palette was used to highlight.)

Fun!

My Sephora & Ulta "semi-haul" video ;)

I hate the word haul... but here are some recent purchases that I made in January & February from Sephora, Ulta, & Narscosmetics.com.

Whoo hoo for Naked 2!

It's late (in my world), I'm tired... I'm rhyming.

However I am excited that I finally picked up the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, follow-up to the Naked palette... my practically every day eyeshadow palette for about the past year! I was actually concerned that the Naked 2 might not be different enough from the original to justify having both - but I was pleased to find that they are actually a great compliment to each other.

Naked 2 palette on top, Naked palette on bottom

There are thousands of reviews out there on these two, I'm sure - so I will just touch on the highlights for me personally... I love the neutralness (is that word?) of each of the palettes and I appreciate the subtle differences in the Naked 2 version, with more taupe and gray based colors.

Naked palette on left, Naked 2 palette on right

My go-to combination from the Naked palette has been Sin across the lid up to the brow, Toasted across the lid, Hustle in the crease, and Virgin as a highlight.

My go to Naked palette combination for every day

I'm loving a few combinations of colors from the Naked 2 palette so far, and I've also been mixing some of the colors of the Naked 2 palette with my Tarina Tarantino Magical palette.

Some favorite combinations so far from Naked 2...
- Bootycall across lid up to brow, Tease across lid, Pistol in crease, Busted in crease
- Verve across lid up to brow (Pewter from Tarina Tarantino palette across lid, and Deep Purple from TT palette in crease, White from TT palette as highlight)
- Verve across lid up to brow, YDK across lid, Busted in crease

I'll be sure to upload pics of combinations as I get to try some more...

New Sephora & MAC purchases!

I've been on a bit of a makeup binge lately, it's so fun though. Some fun purchases I wanted to share are the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary eyeshadow palette, that I ordered from Sephora to also get the Dolce & Gabbana perfume VIB freebie... and a few fun lip colors from MAC. I was super excited to receive the Urban Decay palette, because the Naked palette was such a hit for me!

The palette arrived yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to see the colors. I'd ordered the palette only after seeing the colors online, and I wasn't sure if some of them would be as wearable or good looking in real life as they came across in promotional pictures. However after I opened my palette, I was happy to find that a number of the colors jumped out at me as very wearable and great for daytime looks.

The packaging was also fantastic, it's a very weighty palette and comes with the cutest velvet lining - with a little storage compartment underneath the shadows. (Note: Be careful trying to open the storage compartment, I nicked the shadow in the bottom right corner trying to get it open after I took these pictures... and eventually devised a successful plan to open it with a chop stick. So I'm not sure how useful the compartment would be in the long run until the shadow is all gone.)

Upon first glance, my favorite colors in the 15th anniversary palette are: Omen, Midnight 15, Vanilla, Flow, Deeper, and MIA. We'll see if those are still favorites once I get a chance to try them out! I'm planning on trying to swatch the colors tonight, so I'll try to upload some photos tomorrow of how they look against my fair skin.

Also included in my box from Sephora was a freebie available to VIBS - a deluxe size spray of Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue fragrance. I'm excited to try it out, as I posted in my previous blgo post - because it seems to be reviewed as a universally flattering perfume. (And I've also heard that almost all males love it on women, so we'll see if my husband takes notice at all!)

And just because it arrived in the mail at the same time that my Sephora box arrived... here are a few items that I ordered from MAC while they were having their free shipping promotion. Blankety lipstick and Evolution Revolution lipglass.

Here's a quick swatch of what they look like on, great neutrals for everyday!

MAC Blankety lipstick on left; MAC Evolution Revolution lipglass on right

Face of the Day Looks: Urban Decay Naked Palette

I ordered the Urban Decay 'Naked' eyeshadow palette when it came back in-stock January at Sephora. I'd heard lots of good things about it, and while I was a bit skeptical - still wanted to give it a try.

Wow! Now I know what all of the fuss is about! True, some of the colors in the palette are not exactly daytime appropriate for a professional or mommy - but there are lots of great colors to choose from and not to long after using it you find the ones that work the best for you. My most used colors are Sin, Toasted, and Hustle - and they combine to make a enhanced daytime look, with just a hint of shimmer.

Here's a few pictures of the typical eye look I've been going for lately, with Sin, Toasted, and Hustle:

After a visit to the Benefit counter in February, I've also been a fan of the double eyeline. One charcoal gray line that just goes along your top lid and blends into your lashes, and then a second bronze line on top of that, to make your eyes stand out. I really feel like it's been helping my eyes pop, so I've started doing it everyday!

They used the Benefit creaseless eyeshadow in Busy Signal applied with an angle brush on top of my charcoal gray liner, to do the bronze double line the day I stopped in there. (Which I've since purchased the Benefit product, but haven't gotten around to trying myself yet!) I have been using my Ulta brand charcoal gray eyeliner right along the lash line and then bought a bronze in the same Ulta brand liner that has been working just as well (I think anyways) to do the double line! The pictures above have the double liner with the Ulta brand liners... I will post up a version with the Benefit liner soon, to see if you can tell a difference.