Beauty, Skincare, and a bit of Lifestyle
I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! My husband and I spent it with both our families at our home. Such special memories! 🙂 For today’s post I’m bringing you a colorful fall face of the day look featuring the LORAC Mega PRO 2 palette as part of the BBC November Challenge — which was to incorporate the colors yellow, orange, and red into something. It could be makeup, nails, or hair. Of course, I decided to create a makeup look and this is what I got.
Did you know that Butter|London has released an eyeshadow palette called the Shadow Clutch Palette? I don’t know about you, but I’ve always seen them as the nail polish brand. Good eyeshadow that’s blendable, pigmented, and beautiful isn’t easy to make and I don’t have time for chalky or dry shadows. So, did Butter|London hit the nail on the head? Well, keep reading to find out! 🙂
With Christmas only days away, I’m sharing a eyeshadow look with you that is perfect for any holiday parties you have planned. 🙂 Thanks for checking it out, gals!
Easy, Pink 3D Liquid Lustre Eyeshadow Tutorial
[Read more…]
I know just about EVERYONE is posting about the many Black Friday deals, so I almost feel like this post will be in vain…but I do want to share a few with you all today. These are the beauty-related Black Friday Sales that piqued the most interest for me.
If you want a complete list of Black Friday beauty deals, I would recommend visiting NouveauCheap’s list. She’s amazing. 🙂
My list is not extensive, but they are some of the top ones I would recommend you checking out! 🙂
10 Black Friday Deals Happening NOW!
Sephora
This is the one we’ve all been waiting for! Sephora keeps their Black Friday deals VERY close to their chest until the actual day. The biggest savings are on their $10 Beauty Deals. From Makeup Forever, to Bite Beauty….there are dozens of sets to choose from. And the value of each set ranges from around $15 all the way up to $34.
Also, don’t forget to see what free deluxe sample you can get free with your order. I’ve never seen so many to choose from as there are up on the website right now!
Laura Geller
If you’ve been eying some of her products, NOW is the perfect time to try them out. Use the code FRIDAY25 to get 25% off of any order. Or, if you’ve got a lot of things in the cart and it totals over $100, use the code FRIDAY30 to get 30% off your order. And if your order is over $50, you get free shipping.
E.L.F.
While they do have a BLACKFRIDAY code you can use to get a “Buy One, Get One Half Off” sale, I think there code CYBERMONDAY will get you the most savings. In order for this code to work, add $70 worth of products into your cart, then type in the code, and — BAM — it should bring the total down to $35 and you will get free shipping along with that. Pretty sweet deal, don’t you think?
Too Faced
Now is a great time to try out their Better Then Sex
mascara! If you
purchase one of them, you can get 50% off another item on their site.
The biggest deal that I am really tempted to snag is their Natural at Night palette
— regularly $35, it will be only $15!! Now that is a sweet deal!
FOREO
If you aren’t familiar with them, they’re famous for their iconic
LUNA™ range. And they’ll be kicking off Thanksgiving weekend today (starting at
8:00am PST sharp) by offering various discounts of up to 30% off on all
purchases at FOREO.com. What’s the catch? Each offer will
only last a maximum of two hours, so getting in early is a must! Visit mineallmine.foreo.com to learn about FOREO’s special offer and how to attain and redeem the promo codes.
Paula’s Choice
I’ve enjoyed many skincare products from Paula’s Choice. If you have very senstive skin, or have been wondering why your skin is reacting to different products, this is a website you NEED to check out!
But, anyways, for Cyber Week they’re 15% off everything and FREE shipping at PaulaChoice.com! (Valid 11/25 at 9pm PST – 12/07 9pm PST. Cannot be combined with other offers. Free shipping applies to US + Canada only)
LORAC
Y’all know I have a BIG love for all things that LORAC makes, so their Black Friday sale especially caught my eye. For the big day they are offering 25% off their site. That means you can get the Pro or Pro2 palette for only $31.50! Also, on all orders you will get free shipping AND an eyelash curler. No matter the size of your order!
Ulta
As usual, they’ve got a lot of great deals. Several of them are already sold out, so go HERE to view their ad. They keep it updated on what is out of stock.
At the time of writing this post there is still the Butter London sets of polishes that are only $15 (regularly $30) and Big Sexy Hair products that are only $6.99 each (regularly $17.95).
But, like I said, check out the ad I linked above to see what’s still available.
BH Cosmetics
Save up to 75% off on their website right now! From palettes to brushes….you’re sure to find a great deal here. Have you been eying the That’s Heart palette
? You can get TWO of them for only $9.95. That’s a steal!
They have so many great deals, I really can’t go over them all here. So be sure to hope over and check them out!
The Body Shop
The biggest thing I’m excited for is their limited edition tote bag. It’s not just any tote bag — it’s filled with some of The Body Shop’s most popular items. So the deal is, if you spend $30 on other products, you can get this filled tote bag for an additional $30. It might sound like a lot, but this tote bag values at $125, so you’re saving a good chunk of change right there!
That’s all I have for you today! Go shopping and have fun!
And I’ll be back on Monday to share the with you 10 Cyber Monday deals that I wanted to make sure y’all are aware of.
Out of the five different holiday gift sets that LORAC has brought out this season (that I have seen), I have three of them to share with you today. 🙂 I was fortunate enough to receive them just yesterday to try out and share some awesome pictures with you gals. This isn’t my official review, but just some initial thoughts and close-up pictures to see if they’re worth the price. 🙂
I am not a hoarder — as my hubby, I throw out anything that’s not useful (especially product boxes). But with these boxes….I honestly am going to have a hard time throwing them away. They’re so pretty and they feel so special! Good job, LORAC!!
The Details: LORAC rules this season with The Royal Lip Lustre Creme Set. Give your lips the Royal treatment with our luxuriously creamy and delightfully smooth Lip Glosses that are loaded with antioxidants of Acai Berry, Pomegranate, Grape Seed and Vitamins A,C & E to help protect and
soothe your luscious, regal pout. This Royal family of Lip Lustre Cremes comes complete with 6 magnificent, high-shine shades that are fit for a Queen. Own the throne with The Royal Lip Lustre Creme Set!
Colors included are…
Empress – exclusive Pink Mauve
Princess – exclusive Pink
Enchanted – exclusive Peach Nude
Reign – Berry
Crown Jewel – Cherry Red
Tiara – Nude
My Initial Thoughts: The first obvious perk to this set is that it’s the least expensive out of the three I’m mentioning today and you receive the most products. I like that this set covers just about the whole color wheel when it comes to mandatory lip colors. From nude, to pink, to red, to mauve…it’s all here in this collection.
I noticed that three of these colors are exclusive. If you’re a collector and a lip junkie…than that’s instantly a major plus to this collection. I got excited when I saw that this was a lustre creme lipgloss. I love creamy lip products! But while this lip product is very pigmented, it still has the sheerness and feel of a regular lipgloss. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t like a liquid lipstick. But for lipglosses, these are great products. They have a really nice smell to them, too. Not overpowering, but definitely a fruity fragrance. Call my weird, but I love for my lip products to smell fruity!
THE BOTTOM LINE: If you’re a lip junkie…you really can’t ask for a better deal. It’s like getting these six glosses (regularly $15 each) for a little over $4 a piece. That’s a crazy deal — that’s cheaper than some drugstore lip glosses! Need I say more? 🙂
The Details: LORAC rules this season with The Royal 3D Liquid Lustre Set. Give your eyes the Royal treatment with our pastel, princess-inspired,
long-lasting, shimmering top coat. These shades can be applied over eye shadow or worn individually on eyes and cheeks for luminous, prismatic, 3-Dimensional sparkle and shine. Own the throne with The Royal 3D Liquid Lustre Set!
Colors included are…
Opal
24K
Rose Quartz
Amethyst
My Initial Thoughts: I saw Tati from Glam Life Guru talk about LORAC’s 3D Liquid Luster set last season and was really intrigued. (Side Note: If you’re not watching Tati’s videos….stop now and go subscribe to her channel. She does awesome makeup reviews!) While you know I am a big “matte shadows” fan, I do like some sparkle in my life every now and then. So I’m really excited about this collection.
It was really hard to try to get these liquid lusters to show up in pictures, but just take my word for it — they’re 100% more beautiful in person. 🙂 And keep in mind that this is also without any shadow underneath them. If I review these in depth on my blog, I will share pictures of my eyes before and after applying these liquid lusters. I think this set is really beautiful — and you’re getting a great value for the price! The only thing I can not vouch for is how well they hold up throughout the day and if they crease. But since I’ve heard Tati give these a thumbs up more than once in her videos, I’m pretty sure they’ll do great.
THE BOTTOM LINE: It’s a great set, for the price, especially if you’re all about the eyes. 🙂 The one drawback I noticed is that some of these colors are rather similar. Different, but very close. One idea to consider would be to purchase the gift set for yourself and 3 friends. (If you don’t like having excess makeup, that is. 🙂
The Details: LORAC rules this season with The Royal PRO Eye Collection. Give your eyes the Royal treatment and go PRO with products that are fit for a Queen. The Royal Pocket Pro includes Gold from the original Pro Palette, Cocoa from the Pro Palette 2, and an exclusive pro shade in Ivory, all in our velvety-smooth, long-lasting formula. Own the throne with The Royal Pro Eye Collection!
Items included are…
Royal Pocket Pro Eyeshadow Palette – exclusive
Front of the Line Pro Liquid Eyeliner
Pro Mascara
My Initial Thoughts: The practical side of me definitely comes out when I view this palette. Since mascara and eyeliner are products that everyone needs and goes through rather quickly, Mrs. Practicality instantly piped up and said “Totally worth the money!”. And she’s right. 🙂 I’ve gone through a Front of the Lines Pro Liquid Liner in the past, and loved it. I had it in the color Brown, so I’m excited to see how pigmented and dark their Black is. I’ve never tried out their mascara or the pocket palette (of course, lol), but this 3-piece collection is just a few dollars more than purchasing a single liquid liner. So…yeah, that’s a pretty good deal.
And the pocket palette looks very promising! As you can see in the swatches, they’re very creamy and pigmented — in tried-and-true, Lorac Pro fashion. 🙂 So I honestly don’t see myself not liking this palette. I like that it only has 3 shadows. I think this will come in handy when traveling. The colors are very neutral and could make a complete eyelook by themselves if needed. I can’t wait to use it — especially CoCoa and Ivory, since I don’t own the Lorac Pro 2 palette.
THE BOTTOM LINE: If you’re a practical gal — or buying a gift for a practical gal — than this is definitely the gift set for you. It has products you will definitely put to good use and also an exclusive mini palette. 🙂
Question for My Readers: If you were to purchase one of these gift sets….which would you pick? Or if you have already purchased a gift set from LORAC’s 2014 Holiday gift set, which set did you buy?
I received one or more of the products mentioned above from Lorac Cosmetics in the hopes that I would mention them on my blog. Regardless,
this does not guarantee a review or feature on my blog. I only share information that I think will be useful for my readers and I only recommend products I have personally used and liked.
I’ve never shared with you my top 10 most-loved makeup products. I love reading/watching other beauty lover’s favorites, so thought it’d join in the fun. 🙂
These are in no particular order. They’re just the top ten products that I’ve been absolutely loving recently!
1. Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
I’ve raved about this for a while, and if you follow me on Instagram than you see this primer in every face of the day post. I tried several drugstore eyeprimers before I received this with my Lorac Unzipped palette. All the other primers worked, to some degree, but none of them ever held up for a whole day. This primer, on the other hand, holds up all day — and then some! Whenever I use this, my shadows always look just as good by the end of the night. No fading, no creasing, and the color just as vibrant as when I first applied it. Love it! 🙂
2. Physicians Formula Matte Collection Eyeshadow Quad
I just recently posted my review for this Classic Canyon quad, so I won’t go into too much detail. Just know that this is the best drugstore matte palette I’ve ever seen or tried and I love it. It blends like a dream and stays pigmented all day. Read my review for more details.
3. Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner
I’ve been using this for about 6 months now, and I really love the results I get from it. It’s very creamy and a pigmented, matte black. It lasts all day on my lids. It will rub off if you try, but since I use it on my lids (which I never rub) I don’t have to worry about that. It lasts a long time! I don’t think I’ve even hit the halfway mark with it yet!
4. Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer
As you can see, I only have a deluxe size of this product, but I love it. It’s a lifesaver when my face gets really dry. Applying this before my foundation helps to hydrate my skin and keep it from looking flaky throughout the day. It’s a liquidy primer — not like water, but almost as thin and cool. I haven’t taken the plunge to buy the full size…yet. 🙂
5. Rimmel London ScandalEyes
When I reach for a black eyeliner to line my eyes, I like them to be really pigmented and dark. Rimmel’s ScandalEyes works perfectly for that. It’s pigmented, creamy and stays very well in my waterline. I prefer this liner over Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Zero — I personally think it’s way more pigmented.
6. Lorac Pro Palette
This one shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Lorac always has such buttery-soft shadows. A few months ago I was given this palette has a gift and I’ve been loving it ever since. All the colors in this palette are incredibly pigmented, soft, and just absolutely beautiful! 🙂
7. Maybelline Fit Me! Concealer
I’ve tried several concealers — both high-end and drugstore — and none of them have worked for me very well. But this concealer really is amazing. It looks great under my eye, and also amazing concealing any acne marks. The consistency is very creamy and thick, but blends out beautifully. I haven’t had this for long, but it’s quickly replaced all other concealers I own.
8. Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation
I just posted my review for this foundation earlier this week, so please check that out if you are interested. In short, if you want a foundation that is buildable and can give you either a light or heavy coverage, this is definitely the foundation to look into. I’ve been using it for about a year now — on my second bottle — and been loving it.
9. NYX Butter Lipstick
I purchased this on a whim, wanting to try out some of NYX’s lip products. I personally like nude pinks for my lips, so this color (BLS17 Pops) looked right up my alley. And I was right. It looks great on my, feels super smooth, and is nice and pigmented. It’s the perfect color to wear on an every-day occasion.
10. Airspun Loose Face Powder
I purchased this product last year during CVS’ end-of-the-year beauty sale. It was marked 75% off, and I’d heard Tati at Glam Life Guru rave about it several times before that. I am really glad I picked it up! Whenever I want to set my makeup without wanting anymore coverage, this is the powder I grab for. I definitely recommend you try it out. You won’t be disappointed!
Which made me realize that this was a perfect time to review this palette, since now I had a brand new one in the box! So, let’s dive right in. If you’ve never tried this palette out before, you’re really missing out!
Retail Price: $7.25
Purchase from…
My Review
First Impressions & Packaging:
The first thing that grabbed my attention about this palette was the fact that all the shades were matte and varying shades of brown/taupe. 🙂 (You know this girl — all about them mattes!) I hadn’t really heard much about this palette, so wasn’t sure how the pigmentation or lasting power would be.
There are three different quads in this collection, and I picked up the one called ‘Canyon Classics‘. The packaging is really cute, compact, and easy to take on the go. There’s also a little double-sided doe-foot applicator inside, though I never used it and eventually lost it along the way.
Product & Application:
This compact palette quickly soared from an uncertain purchase to my all-time favorite eye palette to use. The colors are beautiful and suit my skintone perfectly when I want a more neutral eyelook for the day. Not that it’s sheer or doesn’t show up — if I want, I can get a beautiful smokey eye with this palette!
The shadows blend out beautifully and I find it really easy to build up the intensity of the color, depending on if I’m doing a day or night look. I know that two of the shadows look very similar, but they’re actually not. One works beautifully all over the lid and the other I blend into my crease as my contrast. They both work together perfectly.
Major Likes & Dislikes:
There are SO many things I absolutely LOVE about this palette. It’s pigmented. All the colors are matte. It blends like a dream. You can easily take a look from day to night. It’s travel-friendly.
You get the picture. 😉
When it comes to thinking of dislikes for this palette…I have a very hard time with that. One thing that I do notice is that if I’m doing a more intense eyelook and want to darken the outer V, I have to finish by using a different black (from my LORAC Pro to Go Palette) to intensify the color.
The darkest shade in this palette is more of a smokey black or gray then a true, pigmented black. I personally don’t have a problem reaching for another color when I need black. And for an every day look, the darkest color in this palette will suite me perfectly to darken my outer V.
Final Thoughts:
I’m pretty sure you can tell by this time (and because I said it’s my all-time favorite palette, obviously…), but I absolutely love the Matte Collection’s Quad Eyeshadows! If I’m ever doing my makeup and don’t know what eyeshadows to use, I instantly grab this one and know that I will love the end results.
 |
| Swatched twice |
As you can tell from the picture of my current palette, I’ve hit major pan on all of the shadows.
That right there should tell you something — while I wear eyeshadow on a daily basis, I’ve never hit pan on any of my other shadows.
This palette is definitely one that you need to have in your makeup collection. It’s so dependable! And if you’re wanting to get your first neutral eyeshadow palette, this is a $7 well spent. It will last you for a while and has the essential neutrals to give you a beautiful eye look every time.
Question for My Readers: What is your go-to palette for a neutral eyeshadow look? Have you ever tried this palette from Physicians Formula?
I purchased the products mentioned above with my own personal money. I was not compensated in any way for posting this review. I only recommend products that I have used personally and believe will be beneficial for my readers.