Take The Eyeshadow Palette Parade With Me

Thanks to a wonderful idea by Bombshell30 on Sephora Beauty Talk, I am going to be doing the Eyeshadow Palette Parade Challenge!  You can find the rules and a list of other participants here.

In short, I put all of my palettes and eyeshadow collections in a random number generator to create an order.  I will be wearing one palette every day of the week (except weekends) for one week and then moving on to the next palette.  This helps assure that all of my palettes get some love, helps me realize how many I have, and helps me decide when it might be time to give a palette away.  Weekends are cheat days and can be anything I want.  There is a rule that it's okay to add other colors to the palette specified so long as the main look is from the palette, but I've got a few on my list that are only trios, so those I will allow extensive use of other colors so long as the trio is used in some way.

I'm also making it a personal goal to try to blog about each palette the week after I experiment with it.  Come on this journey with me!

Here is my list:

Bobbi Brown Classic Eye

The Balm Nude Tude

Geek Chic True Blood

Bobbi Brown Pastel Shadow Options

Too Faced Chocolate Bar

Bobbi Brown Uber Nude

BH Cosmetics Galaxy Palette

Shiro Hunger Games

The Balm Singles

Naked Basics

Random Singles--Sephora, Lorac, Darla

Lancome Taupe Craze

Naked 1

Clinique Come Heather

Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadows-Browns

Lancome Ruby Affair

Too Faced Bodour Eye

UD Anarchy

Lancome Lavender Grace

Naked 3

Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate

Geek Chic Game of Thrones

Dior Stylish Move

UD Feminine

Stila Black Friday Set

Shiro Zelda

Dior Grege

Bobbi Brown Singles

UD Build My Own (Melt Palette)

Bobbi Brown Shadow Sticks

Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose

Naked 2

MAC Build My Own

UD Build My own (Rock Palette)

Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadows-Purples

Geek Chic Harry Potter

Too Faced Naked Eye

Dior Rosy Tan

Bobbi Brown Bobbi & Katie

Laura Mercier Artist's Palette 2013

Bobbi Brown Navy & Nude

Shiro Game of Thrones

Drugstore faves

Too Faced Glamour To Go

Drugstore non-faves

Are you participating in the Eyeshadow Palette Parade Challenge?  If so, then be sure to leave a comment and tell me about it or link me to your blog!

Naked 3

Naked 3 sold out on Urban Decay's website within hours of launch.  I bought mine, and it finally arrived!  It launches tonight at Sephora and Ulta's websites.  My guess would be it launches at Sephora at 3 AM EST 12/6/2013.  If it's sold out there, you might try Urban Decay again because it wouldn't surprise me if they suddenly get more stock when other people start selling it.

Is this a good palette for fair-skinned girls?  Let's take a look:

Naked 3 is the sequel to the beloved Urban Decay Naked (bronze colored neutrals) and Naked 2 (taupe colored neutrals).  The focus of Naked 3 is rose-toned neutrals.

I do like that this palette includes a couple of mattes in addition to the typical shimmers and metallics.  The bottom 4 shades and middle 4 shades are a bit of a repeat of each other, just slightly darker, but I like that you get the choice.

Strange is a good white shade.  It's matte unlike some other Naked palettes.  Dust is a beautiful pink shimmer.  I've read a lot of comments about no color payout.  I did not find that to be the case, but it has HORRIBLE fallout, like the worse I've ever seen.  It's very hard not to end up with this all over your cheek.  Burnout is the satin and Limit is the matte.  Then we transition to darker colors.  Buzz is a pink shimmer and Trick is a orangy-gold shimmer.

 Nooner is a beautiful mutted mauve matte.  It's pinker than Tease.  I love Tease and am so happy to have this shade.  Liar, Factory, and Mugshot are all different tones of browny-silver shimmer.  I don't really see the rose in these personally, but I LOVE the shades.  They're probably my favorite of the palette.  Darkside is grey satin.  Blackheart is almost black with rose-colored metalic sparkle.  I was so excited to wear this as a liner, but it's much more powdery and doesn't work as well for wet-to-dry liner as I'd like.  It looks good, but takes a lot more work to get right than my Bobbi Brown dark shadows.


Let's see how they swatch on my pale skin.

Here's a quick look I did with these. I'm wearing Factory on my lid, Nooner in my crease, a pat of  Liar in the center of my lid for more rose color, and Blackheart as a liner.  If I were to do this look over again, I'd use a liquid eyeliner to give more definition. Mascara is Almay Get up and Grow and the brows are Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper in Blonde.

Do you need this palette?  Probably not.  I think Naked 2 is best for people with my coloring.  Is this palette fun and will you enjoy it?  Absolutely.  Rose gold is a very on trend color right now, and it is a very fun palette to play with.  I do think this would be a great palette for a teenager, a fashionista, or a make-up lover.  I'm very glad I bought it for the fun factor.

SirenPrincess Beauty Rating:  B+

Naked 3 palette, currently sold out on UrbanDecay.com, coming tonight to Sephora.com and Ulta.com. *Edit*--They're live on Sephora now!  Don't forget to use your Ebates!

Disclaimer:  I paid for this palette myself and bought it at UrbanDecay.com.

Ebates

I had no idea Ebates was a legit way to get serious amounts of cashback.  I always assumed it was a lot of work for a tiny amount of money.  I am not a coupon clipper.  I don't have time for that!

I was so wrong!  Ebates is easy.  There's hardly any questions to register.  It's literally like a minute thing.  Then you just start there for your shopping and earn serious amounts back.  Sephora had a 10% cash back.  It can put the money in your paypal account or send you a check!  I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.  I feel so stupid for not looking into this earlier!

And to make it worse, I keep forgetting to use it now that I have it.  I finally installed the Ebates add-on to Firefox so I can't forget anymore because I seriously have forgotten and cost myself at least $45 this weekend.

If you're like me and have been putting this off or thinking it wasn't for you, you seriously need to go check this out.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=G3iJydjGeMmDttb9NDHATQ%3D%3D

Jan Marini Holiday Sale

You might be able to tell from my blog that Jan Marini is my favorite skincare line.  It's the only skincare I've ever tried that I can tell an immediately difference in my skin, like miracle difference in my skin from the first use.  I don't know how it's so amazing; I just know that it is.  It's pricey, but it's worth it.

I just received a 20% off code.  This stuff never usually goes on sale, so it's a deal!

Here's the promo code: HOLIDAY20. Valid Nov 25 through Dec 6.

If you're trying to decide what to try, the Transformation Face Cream moisturizer is my everyone should be using this product.  I also like their Bioglycolic Cleanser, Bioglycolic Bioclear Cream or Lotion, and their Bioglycolic Body Cleanser (first thing that's ever truly helped with the little bumps on my elbows).

What 15 Items Would be in Your Essential Make-up Kit?

I saw this question on Temptalia today, and I thought I'd share my answers.  The question is what 15 items would bein your essential make-up kit?  This excludes skin care, fragrance, and hair care.  Just make-up.  Here's mine:

1. Dolce &Gabanna Perfect Luminous Foundation in Classic
2. Bobbi Brown Setting Powder in Porcelain
3. Revlon Powder Blush in 03 Blushed (discontinued but my HG blush and this is my dream list)
4. Hourglass Hidden Concealer in Fair
5. Almay Get Up and Grow Mascara in Brown
6. YSL Golden Gloss in 02 Praline
7. YSL Glossy Stain in 04 Mauve
8. Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper in Blonde
9. Benefit Rockateur Blush
10. Bobbi Brown Navy and Nude Eyeshadow Palette
11. Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette
12. Stila Liquid Eyeliner in Brown
13. Em Cosmetics Highlight and Contour Stick in Fair
14. Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadow in Sandy Gold
15. Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadow in Stone

If we were doing skincare, my can't live without are:
1. Jan Marini Transformation Face Cream
2. Jan Marini Bioglycolic Cleanser
3. Jan Marini Bioglycolic Bioclear Serum
4. Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream
5. Caudalie Cleansing Milk (I use it as a gentle eye make-up remover)
6. Jan Marini Bioglycolic Body Scrub

Hair
1. Aveda Blue Malva Shampoo
2. Aveda Smooth Infusion Conditioner
3. Aussie Hair Insurance Leave-in Conditioner
4. Aveda Phomollient Styling Foam
5. Aveda Glossening Straightner

Fragrance
1. Prada Candy L'eau--I honestly think I could be happy with this for the rest of my life if I had to.

Urban Decay Sephora 500 Point Perk

Trying to decide what to do with 500 points in the Sephora Beauty Inside Program?  How about the Urban Decay perk?

It comes with travel sizes of the vitamin prep spray, make-up setting spray, anti-aging eye primer, and a sample size eyeshadow in Mushroom.

As far as free things go, I think this set is pretty nice.  I find a lot of the points perks not worth spending points on.  The Dior one looks cheap to me, but this one has four items I will actually use, and seems worth the 500 points to me.

The only part I'm disappointed in is that the eyeshadow is so tiny.  If you look at the outside of the box or even before you open the eyeshadow, it looks like it's a normal Urban Decay eyeshadow size, just thinner.  But it's actually only a small dot of shadow.  There's still plenty to use, but that's about the size of a brush, so it's going to be hard to get on the brush.  I'm a little disappointed in that.

The above picture is a swatch of Urban Decay Mushroom on my pale skin.  I actually really like the color.  I was worried it would be too dark on this pale girl, but I think it will make a beautiful eyeshadow on me.

SirenPrincess Beauty Rating:  B+

Disclaimer:  I received this product for free with the use of points.

Ipsy November 2013

I'm finally off the waitlist for Ipsy!  Here's my first bag, the November 2013 bag.

This month's bag is all about glam.  The bag itself is a gold snakeskin-like bag with a hot pink zipper.  It's sort of cute, but not something I personally will be using.

The products I received are:

EM Cosmetics lash gallery mascara volumizing mascara in Brown--Okay, I have mascara sensitivities and would turn it off if I could, but I'll try it.  I'm still always on the lookout for one that will work for me.  And I actually LIKE brown mascara.  Considering how pale I am and that I have blond lashes, I consider brown more everyday mascara for me.  I'd also pick volumizing over lengthening, so this is a good pick for me as long as it doesn't bother my eye allergies.
UPDATE--This mascara is actually good for my sensitive eyes!  Only minor irritation, which is good for me.  The brown looks plenty dark and blackish on me.  The formula, however, does nothing for my eyes.  It seemed really hard to get on.  Maybe it's the brush.  If you don't have mascara sensitivities, you can find something that will work a lot better.

Be a Bombshell Lip Crayon in Shameless--The formula is nice, but the color is magenta.  I suppose it could be worse, but this color is too bold for me.

Nailtini in Champagne--Will go to a friend or a traveling box. I don't use nail polish because I get mine done with gel manicures at the salon.  This is a very beautiful color, though, and if I used nail polish, I would love this.

Pixi Bronzer--This is a very LIGHT bronzer with a bit of sparkle.  It's just right for a touch of sun for pale girls.  I like this but wish it didn't have the sparkle.

Star looks gem eye pencil in Topaz--I hate eye pencils and this one is silver, SILVER.  I would never wear silver eyeliner unless it was for like Halloween or Cos play maybe.  This will be going in a traveling box.

BH Cosmetics Galaxy Eyeshadow Sample in Asteroid--I was so excited for this one as I love eyeshadow.  Opening the box, though, the color is woah, bold and different.  It's like a copper with blue veining.  Not something I would ever purchase.  But it doesn't seem to swatch that crazy.  I'll try it.  I'm a little bit excited to try it.
UPDATE--I actually love this eyeshadow!  It turns into a bit of a shiny taupe when you apply it.  If you pat it on, it looks a bit more silvery-blue but not really blue.  If you brush it through, though, it's more of a brown taupe.  It's not coppery on my eyes at all.  More like a slightly lighter and more brown version of Urban Decay Mushroom.  It really is a very pretty color on my eyes.

I have to keep reminding myself that this bag was only $10 compared with my Wantable box which is $36. So really I only have to like ONE product to make it worth it.  I still really wish I had more options to customize this.  My bag had a lot of bold color choices I'd never wear, some items I know I'd never use.  That being said, I am excited to try to the EM mascara, the Pixi bronzer, and the crazy-colored eyeshadow.  The fun factor alone of the surprise and seeing what you get is worth the $10 for me.  But I do wish I'd gotten the Neptune eyeshadow and the Amethyst eyeliner.  Oh well.

SirenPrincess Beauty Rating: B

Disclaimer:  I paid for this bag with my own money

Ipsy Referral Link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/2dsy