Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette Review/Swatches

Here it is, the last Urban Decay palette I have to show you, the 15th Anniversary Palette. It's one of those things in my collection that I keep around because it's a showstopper. The packaging on this is GORGEOUS. The lid lifts off, has a full mirror inside and that lovely filligree detail along the sides. If you don't have this, I'm really really sorry. This was limited edition, released Summer 2011. Still, feel free to drool over the following pictures.

I won't harp on about Urban Decay eyeshadow formula too much, considering this would make the fourth time I've talked about it but a couple things to note. While I do have struggles with UD's glittery shades, this palette has some of the worst offenders. If I'm going to use this palette, I do eye makeup first, remove the fall out and then do face makeup. That doesn't stop me from loving this palette the most.

The shades are a mix of neutrals and brights, with lighter, more glittery neutrals on the left, brights down the middle and darker, smokier neutrals on the right. By now you know I'm not much of a brights gal. Even so, I love playing in the shades from this palette that are out of my comfort zone. I know there are a lot of people who hate UD's various Midnight iterations but I love the two in this palette, Midnight Rodeo and Midnight 15. Overall, it just makes me giddy when I use it and I'm so glad I splurged on it when I had the chance.

So, that's it! Do you have this palette and love it as much as I do? What's your favorite UD palette?

Urban Decay Naked Palette Review and Swatches

Ok so everyone has at least heard of the Naked Palette and there isn't anything new I can bring to the table on this so maybe the title of this post should have been "Jessica Spends An Entire Post Gushing About How Awesome The Naked Palette Is".

The Naked Palette was one of my first higher end makeup purchases and it was definitely my first bigger palette. I have always been (and probably always will be) a neutral eyeshadow girl and the Naked Palette is the poster child of neutral eye shadow. I purchased this right before Urban Decay revamped their formula so I don't really know if these are the new formulation or the old. They are buttery and smooth and highly pigmented.

If I could only keep one palette, this would be it. It's not really lacking much of anything, although Naked Basics makes a nice sidekick. The colors play well together and I can get a ton of different looks from just this palette. Some favorite combos of mine are Naked and Buck, Sin and Gunmetal, Half Baked and Smog, and Toasted and Hustle. Really, if you love neutrals, just assume you will love this.
I hope I didn't gush on too long. This palette gets a ton of hype and I feel like it really is deserving of that. So now the million dollar question is, if I have this one and Naked Basics, is it worth getting Naked 2?

Urban Decay Feminine Palette Review and Swatches

Continuing on with my Urban Decay palettes, we have the Feminine Palette. I have the old school, cardboard packaging and I definitely prefer it to the new zip around Feminine Palette. I actually got this on clearance from the Urban Decay website for like $12.

I got this palette, besides because it was super cheap, but also because the packaging was so cute and I thought it would be a good travel palette. It's probably the least used of all my Urban Decay palettes. I do like the colors but invariably, I have to pull out another palette to feel like I can get a full look out of these and that kind of defeats the purpose for me. I still really do enjoy it when I pull it out though.

I believe these are actually Urban Decay's old eye shadow formula. They are quite buttery but the second and third shades, SWF and Midnight Cowboy, are chunky and a touch hard to work with. They kind of pill up. I love Aquarius every time I wear it. It's just a really nice light aqua color. Darkhorse is actually one I have in another palette.
So, like I said, not my favorite but I do pull it out time to time. Urban Decay does excellent palettes and I feel like this one misses the mark. Anyone else have major disappoinment with an UD palette, despite all the hype they get?

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Review and Swatches

My favorite eye shadows, hands down, come from Urban Decay. They are always buttery, easy to use and just plain awesome. I have four palettes from them and it's high time I showed them some bloggy love. Two of them are discontinued and two have been talked to death in the beauty community so you may not discover anything completely crazy and new in these posts. Still, I'd like to give each one it's own chance in the spotlight as they really are quality products.

First up is Naked Basics. This little palette is the newest in Urban Decay's Naked line, released during the last holiday season. I really resisted getting this for a long time. I kept telling myself you have other similar colors scattered through other palettes, just make do. But I had a coupon to Ulta plus a lot of points racked up so I allowed myself to get it.

And you guys, this is legit. I'm in love. It's better than I imagined. First of all, on it's own, you can get a multitude of great neutral looks. My favorite is simply Walk of Shame all over the lid, Naked 2 through the crease and Venus as a highlight. I also love using Faint either as a liner or to deepen up the overall look. Same with Crave!
But the thing I love about Naked Basics most of all is that it's a great sidekick to basically every other palette I own. These shades fill in the gaps that other palettes might have. I rarely ever want an eye look to be all shimmer but so many palettes are lacking a good matte or at least satin finish shade. This is so convenient to pull out and add that one shade you need to complete a look.

Of course the quality of Naked Basics is typical Urban Decay. Every shade is pigmented and buttery smooth. They blend fantastically. These swatches are on bare skin, no primer. I know my swatch of Foxy looks lackluster but it's so so close to my skin tone (inside my arm, not on the lid).
Honestly, this palette deserves all the hype that surrounds it. Even if you aren't much of a neutral wearer, these shades are basics (hence the name) and will help along any look. The quality of Urban Decay eye shadows makes $27 a bargain for shades you will reach for constantly. I haven't done my makeup without this since I got it.
What do you think of Naked Basics? Are you curious to see what the other three palettes are? ;)

Review: Holika Holika Moisture Petit BB Cream

I've mentioned Holika Holika's Moisture Petit BB Cream in several posts lately but I felt like it really deserved it's own review. Keep in mind, this product was my first experience with an Asian BB cream but I'm blown away by how awesome it is!

The good:
The coverage on this is phenomenal. I'd say this is one of the most full coverage base products I own. I usually apply one thin layer and then if I can still see any redness or spots, I'll pat it on like concealer as well. It even covers my under-eye circles better than most traditional concealers! It's super moisturizing, so much so that it wouldn't even matter if I didn't put moisturizer on before hand. It dries down to a natural satin finish. Moisture Petit also has a great SPF, which is good for me because skin cancer is common in my family and for redheads in general. This is a great low maintenance routine product, as it cuts out a ton of steps. I don't use primer, concealer or powder when I wear this.

The bad:
I only have two problems with Holika Holika Moisture Petit. One is the color range. This comes in one shade. It seems to adjust a bit so there's a little wiggle room but mostly if you are anything darker than maybe a NC/NW 20, this just isn't going to work for you. Another small issue is the scent. It's got a strong perfumey scent to it. It bothered me the first couple of times but I don't even notice it any more.

Where in the heck do I buy this?!
I purchased mine for $5.88 plus $2.50 shipping from a GREAT ebay seller, cosmeticmarket2012. I'm very certain that this and the other products I have purchased from them are 100% legit. They get everything shipped out quickly and even included samples in my orders. Shipping did take about two weeks from the time they sent it out, but that's understandable coming from overseas. If you are impatient like I am, the $2.50 upgrade in shipping is totally worth not waiting another 1-2 weeks. Holika Holika does have a US website now but I haven't ordered from it. If you are nervous about legitimacy, that's the way to go.

Final verdict?
I'm thrilled with pretty much everything about this product. If you think it would match you, I definitely recommend picking it up! It's a million times better than the American BB creams that I have tried.

Anyone have a favorite Asian BB cream I should try? This was the first I tried, I've picked up two more since and I'm definitely open to other suggestions!

Spring Blush Love: Benefit Coralista

Our last Spring Blush Love is Benefit's Coralista!

Coralista is, surprise!, another coral color. Benefit calls this a warm coral pink, which is spot on (and also basically how I've described the other blushes I've showcased this month). I'd say this is the most peachy/orange coral I've show so far. It's very very shimmery and I do not use a highlighter with this. It adds a nice natural flushed glow to the skin.

Coralista is a very buttery blush. It's a little soft so you might kick up some powder with your brush but it's very easy to work with. The pigmentation on this is amazing! I just do a small tap of my brush at first and build up from there. You can sheer it out like I do or go full color, true to pan if you wanted. Coralista is very easy to work with, I don't have problems with blending or anything like that.

I got this mini Coralista from a Benefit set when I ordered for my birthday. Benefit actually does minis of their box o' powders in a lot of sets and the packaging of this one isn't as flimsy as you would think. I would definitely purchase the full size if I ever run out of this mini. I love all of the Benefit blushes I've tried, so if you're on the fence about them, I say go for it. Most of them are shimmery, but they are absolutely beautiful.

So that's it for Spring Blush Love! I hope you enjoyed this little series. Blush is probably my favorite makeup product and I enjoyed sharing the ones I've been wearing lately with you!

Spring Blush Love: ELF Studio Blush in Tickled Pink

Just a quick word for you before we get down to the business of today's post: I'm sure by now you've heard that Google Friend Connect will be going away on July 1st. I've already imported all the blogs I follow via GFC into BlogLovin'. BlogLovin seems to work in a very similar manner to GFC so if you want to switch over here's a simple tutorial to import all your followed blogs to BlogLovin'.

Now, on to today's Spring Blush Love, E.L.F.'s Studio Blush in Tickled Pink!

Tickled Pink is a light neutral pink with just a little bit of peachiness to it. There isn’t any obvious shimmer, just a nice sheen. It looks like a healthy glow on the cheeks and pairs nicely with pretty much any look. I often wear this when I’m not sure what blush to wear or if I’m looking for something that won’t compete with my eyes or lips.

I think for some people this blush might be too sheer. It’s ok for me because I’m pretty pale. It’s pretty buildable and I don’t think it ever looks chalky or powdery on me. The texture is nice and buttery. I think for $3, the formula on this is really good. I own a couple other ELF blushes and they all seem to feel nice and soft without being powdery.

While I’m sure this color isn’t overly unique, it’s a great staple blush. Everyone needs a neutral blush that they feel confident wearing with any look. I do wear this all year round but in the spring time I do a lot of really natural, “no makeup” type looks so this gets a ton of use. If you haven’t checked out this line of blushes before you really need to!
If you have a favorite ELF blush, leave your recommendations in the comments! I've been meaning to place an ELF order for a while now. And anyone else feeling sad about GFC going away?

Influenster: Not Your Mother's She's a Tease Volumizing Hair Spray

And for our final Influenster review this week: Not Your Mother’s She’s a Tease Volumizing Hair Spray.

This hair spray promises to create volume and lift with a firm, non-crunchy hold.  I usually use as few hair products as possible, but I got a haircut a couple weeks ago and I've really needed extra volume. I prefer my hair to be very touchable and soft so I was definitely hopeful on the non-crunchy claim.

This was the only product from the Sweetheart Voxbox that I was disappointed in. Initial use, I got a decent amount of volume. My roots felt a little sticky but it wasn't too bad. I’m definitely willing to live with that feeling if it means more volume. But after just a few hours, my hair would look flat and there was no sign of this had ever touched my hair. I’ll keep using it to use it up and I’ll definitely update you if I find a way to make it work but I’m just not overly impressed with this.

I received this product for free from Influenster for reviewing purposes. My opinions are always entirely my own. 

Influenster: Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response

Rolling right along, today I have Secret’s Clinical Strength Stress Response Antiperspirant to share with you. I know sweat is not a fun topic to talk about but I’m definitely going to be honest with this review and I hope it doesn't get too tmi for you.

Secret promises that this will protect you from sweat caused by heat, movement, or stress. From personal experience there aren't that many antiperspirants that work well under stress. It’s a problem I've dealt with a lot in the past few years so I was really excited to try this out. I've used the regular clinical strength line from Secret before and they are really great for my everyday needs but they don’t seem to make a huge difference when I’m stressed.

I was very happy with how well this worked. I noticed significantly less sweat at times when I should have expected to be a total mess. It completely convinced me to make this my regular deodorant. The scent on this is Serene Citrus. It’s a nice citrusy scent and it’s pretty strong too. I could smell it throughout the day.

There isn't much else to say about this. It’s always nice to find new products that work well for you. The regular Secret line doesn't cut it for me but I love the Clinical Strength line and plan to make the Stress Response my regular antiperspirant.

I received this product for free from Influenster for reviewing purposes. My opinion is always entirely my own.

Influenster: Olay Fresh Effects Va-Va-Vivid Powered Contour Cleansing System Review

One of the items I was most excited about using from my Voxbox was the Olay Fresh Effects Va-Va-Vivid! Powered Contour Cleansing System! This system contains a cleansing brush and a shine controlling cleanser.

A quick background on my skin: I have dry/combo skin. I get dry patches on my forehead but my nose and chin tend to get shiny. I also have sensitive skin. It will breakout easily and gets red if I touch it too much.

The brush is really nice. The silicone bristles are a little rougher on my skin than I thought they would be but not painfully so. It does a great job of exfoliating without feeling like I’ve just taken sandpaper to my face. The small size is great for getting around my nose and temples. It also makes it more travel friendly than my Clarisonic.  I did use this to remove my makeup a couple of times but I wouldn’t recommend it. If I didn’t rinse my brush every couple of seconds it would start to feel like I was just smearing it around. Just something to note, after I used this my face was always really bright red. It didn’t hurt but it was noticeable enough that my boyfriend would ask me why my face was so red.

The cleanser is a thick and creamy consistency without lathering too much. It promises to keep shine away and I felt like it did a pretty good job of that.  It didn’t have a very strong scent to it; to me it just smells like soap. Mostly with cleansers, I’m looking for something that cleans without leaving a film and doesn’t break me out and this met both requirements. I’m actually considering buying a full size to keep in my beauty stash.

How does it compare to the Clarisonic? Honestly, they are two separate things. If you were hoping this was an affordable dupe to the Clarisonic, the answer is no. This vibrates and the Clarisonic oscillates and, in my opinion, that makes them perform very differently. The different bristles on each brush mean they both do the job in a different way. I do enjoy them both but I won’t be giving up my Clarisonic anytime soon.

As with any brush, they are not every day tools. You could over-exfoliate which would do more harm than good. At most, I would use a brush every other day but most of the time, I’m only using these tools twice a week.

I enjoyed this set and definitely recommend this. I feel like it would work with a variety of skin types and it’s really inexpensive for how good it really is. The kit retails for $12.99 and the full size cleanser is $6.99. If you can't find it in stores yet, it can be purchased at the Fresh Effects website or on Amazon. I will keep using the brush and probably buy a full size of the cleanser.

I received this for free from Influenster for review purposes. My opinions are entirely my own. 

Spring Blush Love: ELF Studio Cream Blush in Tease

Today, we are talking about the second pick for my Spring Blush series, ELF's Studio Cream Blush in Tease!

I love cream blushes in the spring, they look so dewy and natural. This particular cream blush has a soft, mousse like, whipped texture. I've found that it's easiest to apply with fingers so your body heat can help the product melt into your skin. You don't need too use very much to get it to show up but it builds up nicely if you want it to.

Tease is a muted coral pink. It's got some dustiness to it that makes it look much less bright than Fleet Fast. It leans more pink than coral, but trust me, the coral is in there. (I had a really hard time trying to get this to photograph true to color and not completely orange!) This doesn't have any shimmer to it and actually looks quite matte in the container but I've found that it tends to have a sheen to it that makes it look like my natural skin.

I really do love this blush! It's $6 from ELF's website, making it one of the most affordable blushes in my collection. My only real complaint on this is that the packaging is needlessly bulky. It tried to look like high end packaging and hit the mark entirely. For me, it's easily overlooked as it's a fantastic product and I don't take this with me when I travel. I highly recommend picking this one up!

Next week I'm going to do all my Influenster voxbox reviews but we will get back to my blush picks the week after that. Hope you are having a great day!

Spring Blush Love: MAC Fleet Fast

It's no secret that I LOVE blush. In springtime, I gravitate towards natural looking pinks and corals. So this month I'm going to be featuring four of my spring blush picks! I decided to start with MAC's Fleet Fast as it's easily in my top 5 of all time. 

Fleet Fast is a beautiful coral pink. It's a satin formula, but I don't have experience with any other MAC blushes yet so I couldn't tell you how this compares to other satins in the MAC range. It's not a buttery or soft blush by any means. It has a pretty stiff texture so it does take a little more working with than other blushes. It's not so hard that it's annoying but it's worth noting. It's also not powdery or chalky like a lot of drier blushes are.

I really love the color and I'm sure there are other brands out there that make something similar but for my collection, this is unique. I have corals and I have pinks but Fleet Fast is a great mixture of the two. Strangely, I also have very few blushes that I would classify as a true satin and this is definitely one of them. 

I love this color enough that I would wear it year round but it's definitely a spring/summer color. I've been using my trusty Sigma F40 with this and it works just fine. This was LE with Hey Sailor last summer but you might still be able to find it on Ebay or in a CCO. I promise, this is the only hard to find blush I show you in this series! 

Do share with me your blush picks for spring! I'm always on the lookout for more blushes!

Review: Neutrogena Health Skin Liquid Makeup

 Besides nail polish, one of my very favorite beauty products is foundation. Today I have one of my favorites to show you. Let's talk about Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup.

The good:
This foundation is a semi matte, very natural looking finish. Coverage is medium but buildable. My redness peeks through pretty much every foundation so it should cover more normal levels of redness and discoloration. It's not drying and doesn't cling to dry patches. For me, wear time is average. It doesn't wear away unevenly and I always think it looks pretty good at the end of the day. If you don't struggle with oily skin or need it to last 12 hours, you could easily skip any setting powders. This dries down pretty quickly but you definitely have plenty of time to blend it out. I usually apply with a brush, either a Sigma F80 or a MAC 187.

 The bad:
The packaging on this is just a really poor design. It's a glass bottle without a pump so it can be a huge mess when you try to pour some out and it's not really safe to travel with. I also find that this can be tricky to apply with fingers or a sponge. I find those methods make it go on a little too thick, at least for me. This is also a little pricey for drugstore foundation.

Final verdict?
With the right application techniques, Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation is a great every day liquid foundation for most skin types. At $10-13 in most drugstores, it's on the expensive side of drugstore foundation but if you buy it from a store with a nice return policy, I'd give it a shot.
Anyone else try Healthy Skin out? What did you think?

My Essential Brushes

I have a confession to make. You may already know that I'm obsessed with nail polish and blushes. What you probably don't know is that I love makeup brushes! I'm very good about being in control of it because I seriously don't need any more. In fact, there are a few I use every day and I rarely use the others, as much as I love them. If all my brushes disappeared, these are the ones I would repurchase without a second thought.

Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki - If I'm going to use a brush for foundation, this is what I reach for. It just buffs everything flawlessly and it's perfect. I've considered others from this line, but for now, I'm happy with just my F80.
Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour - I've tried all manner of other blush brushes but I've used this one the most since I got it two years ago. It's perfect for the way I apply blush. It's super soft, not too big, and very easy to clean. The shape just makes me feel like I have a lot of control with this brush.

ELF Studio Powder Brush - I know others compare this to the F80 and in my opinion, there is no comparison. They have very different jobs. This brush buffs powder in amazingly well. I'd never dream of using it for a liquid foundation but for powder, it's perfect.

Sigma E55 Eye Shading Brush - I tend to be picky with my shader brushes. I need something soft and dense but not too dense. It can't be super big or super small either. The Sigma E55 fits the bill nicely. It is $10 but I think that's totally worth it for this brush.
ELF Essential Eye Crease Brush - I know many prefer a fluffier brush for crease work, but this one just fits better for me and the way I do my eyeshadow. It's very small, like a pencil brush but rounder and a little less dense than a pencil brush. It's not super soft but for a $1 brush, it's held up surprisingly well.
Sigma E25 Blending Brush - When I do need something bigger and softer for my crease or just something to blend, I love this E25 brush. I have the travel size and I really should pick up a full size. It's not too big and it's very soft. I don't tend to be a great judge of when things are properly blended but I find this does a great job without a ton of effort on my part.
ELF Studio Angled Contour Brush - Stay with me here. I use this brush for highlights. Yes, I did just say that. It's a great size for highlighting my brow or my inner corner and the angle makes it so easy. It's just a swipe across my brow and a couple of taps around my tear duct and it's perfect. I honestly don't use anything else for highlights.
ELF Essentials Eyelash and Brow Wand - It's a spoolie. Everyone needs a spoolie. And as long as you aren't looking for a rubber bristled mascara wand instead, all spoolies are the same. So this $1 spoolie works just fine and is super cheap, which is nice because I feel like this is one brush you should replace regularly if you use it on your lashes. I honestly can't live without a spoolie. (Plus spoolie is an awesome word.)

Obviously, there are many brushes (that I use and love) that got left out. These are just my everyday absolutely necessary brushes. And because I was curious, it would cost me $62 to replace all of these brushes. I think that's totally worth it and definitely a good price for a set of brushes I use every time I do my makeup.
What are your favorite brushes? Is there anything I'm missing out on as far as brushes go?

E.L.F. Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn Review and Swatches

I haven't been doing favorites posts for a while now but I wanted to tell you about one of my current favorites, ELF's Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn. I purchased it in June 2011, used it a few times and just forgot about it. I pulled it back out in December, sprayed some Fix+ on top to help soften it up and I've been using it pretty much every other day since then.

The studio cream eyeshadows are much different from the essentials line cream shadows. The essentials are sticky and have a lot of slip and never really dry down or set. This feels light and blendable. It's a much drier texture but it never feels greasy or sticky. I only use my fingers to apply this because it does need the heat to be really workable.

Dawn is a light cool toned taupe. It pretty buildable from really sheer to fairly true to pan (pot?). I don't know if I was using this all over if I would attempt to build it up to really opaque because I would be worried it would crease with that many layers. Cream shadows tend to do that. But as a sheer wash, this would be a nice color base.

Top: light, blended swatch. Bottom: Heavy swatch

This is how I've been wearing it. I always use a primer underneath. I run the color along my lashline, taking my time to build it up to fairly opaque. Then I use what's left on finger and blend it up until I don't have any harsh lines. I'll usually put a little highlight under my brow and that's it.

It doesn't last forever but I rarely ever need eye makeup to last all day. For $3, I'd say give it a shot. It's been a staple in my routine lately.
Anyone else have some ELF favorites to share?

Review: Up and Up Dip It Nail Polish Remover

In case you couldn't tell I really like glittery nail polishes. But they are so hard to remove. For a while I had been using the foil method of removal but my friend Sam told me I had to try the Dip-It from Target.

The Dip-It is a container with little brushes around the sides and it's filled with acetone. You stick your finger in it and let it soak for a few seconds and then rub it against the brushes to remove the polish.

It works very well. Is that a surprise? It is a lot quicker than the foil method. The little bristles do a great job of scraping away polish and glitter. Everything is contained in a cup and you don't end up with residual polish on your cuticles and glitter all over everything. There is one downside to this though.

This method drys out my nails, cuticles and finger tips, which should not shock you since it is acetone. The little bristles actually kind of hurt and damage my cuticles. They need a little more care and cuticle cream after I use this method. (Keep in mind, I have a very very low pain tolerance so it's probably not all that painful for most people.)
Ultimately, I'm lazy and while the Dip-It takes less time, the foil method requires less scrubbing on my part and the acetone doesn't get all over my fingers. I'll keep this around and continue to use it because it's not bad but I'm only using it for glitters.