Monthly Favorites!

*~Monthly favorites~*

Greetings people of earth and or blogger. Here are pics and some mini reviews of my favorite products that I've been using this March 2012.

Everything from new products, new purchases and just some things I re-discovered from my collection this month, Enjoy!

Face Products!

The first thing I have been LOVING this month has been my Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation. I wear the shade Soft Ivory (AKA pale) haha, which is a bit annoying because Sephora actually doesn't carry my shade, so I have to purchase it at a Laura Mercier counter. -__-

 This is a very full coverage foundation but doesn't feel heavy at all. I love the finish when applied with a Beauty Blender, or buffing brush like one of the Sigma Sigmax brushes. Definitely my favorite foundation I've tried so far!

Next is what I use to set the Laura Mercier foundation, which is the Cover FX setting FX powder in Light. A very finely milled translucent powder which fills in any gaps in your foundation and makes it look flawless! An absolute must have for me! -added note this powder is on sale right now at sephora
8.00?!?!

   

And my concealer of the moment- The Maybelline Dream Lumi touch, highlighting concealer in the shade Ivory. This is the first concealer that I have really loved from the drug store and it is fantastic! Super creamy and light, brightens the eyes beautifully, and covers any dark circles or discoloration. Not so good for a spot cover up (as you don't really want to highlight your imperfections) but perfect for under eyes! 

                      

Eyes!

First up in the eye products is my newly purchased Urban Decay 24/7 eyeshadow pencil in Midnight Cowboy! This.is.gorgeous! Ridiculously pigmented and such and amazing color with insane sparkle. This as a base with Midnight cowboy rides again eyeshadow over it is a match made in heaven! Can be worn worn with or without primer and does not crease all day (unless applied wayyy too thick which I haven't had a problem with yet) and with or without eyeshadow on top of it. 

This product has been raved about in the beauty world for the last month so naturally I had to try it out, and if course....it's awesome. The Maybelline color tattoo eyeshadow, I got one in the color Tough as Taupe.  This with a little of MAC's Satin Taupe and I am good to go! The wear on these are amazing, no primer needed and completely crease proof! love love love!

And last for eyes but certainly not least is the Too Faced Natural Eye palette.  I have had this palette for a few months now but lately I have been using it like crazy! A very easy go to palette that contains 9 gorgeous neutral eyeshadows, and the shade nude beach alone makes this worth it for me!

ETC

For lip product this month I have been loving the Revlon Lip Butters! This one is in the color strawberry shortcake which is just a light kinda bubble gum pink! These are sort of a hybrid of a lip balm and a lipstick, super creamy, and do not dry my lips out! Love this specific shade because it's very wearable and doesn't look like BAM lipstick! haha.

Neeeeext is a nail polish from The Balm in Petunia! Yay for bright colors! Warmer seasons are ahead so warm colors are my new best friend! It is a gorgeous bright coral-y orange! I would insert a picture wearing it buuuut I just did my nails which you can see by clicking here, so for now here are some pics of what it looks like in the bottle at least, and I will update this with pics wearing it asap:)

And my last favorite this month is a scent! The Coach Poppy Flower perfume! I am awful at describing scents so i'll just list some of the notes of the fragrance below, but generally I love it and have been wearing it almost every day!

Notes:Sweet Freesia, Violet Leaves, Wet Ivy, Juicy Grapefruit, Mandarian, Lychee, Cassis, Jasmine Petals, Water Lily, Rose, Amber, Apricot Skin.

And that brings us to a close of this monthly favorites! Hope you enjoyed and I will talk to you all soon! DEUCES! 

Nails of the day!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to do a quick post to show you guys my NOTD (nails of the day) for the KCA gifting suite:) I used OPI that's hot! Pink, and an unfortunately untitled silver 3d glitter from Urban Outfitters (which I am obsessed with) sponged onto the tips for sort of a falling glitter effect.

Thanks for reading and there will be a new full post up tomorrow<3

Naked VS. Naked 2. Product Battle!

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to be doing a product battle of two of the most sought after palettes in the beauty world, The Urban Decay Naked Palette and Urban Decay The Naked 2 Palette. These happen to be two of my favorite, go to palettes for every day wear. When the first Naked Palette released in fall of 2010 make-up lovers (including myself) went nuts for it! It sold out in almost every store immediately, and it's only fitting that the Naked 2 followed in suit. These neutral filled palettes are perfect for calm natural day wear and easily transformable to smokey night time looks. Okay onto the review!

 

Photographed here is the original Naked Palette. This palette contains 12 neutral shadows with a range of finishes and textures. Includes a mini UD primer potion and flat shader eyeshadow brush.

Shadows from left to right-
Virgin: A very light shimmery (but not quite frost) champagne with slight pink undertones.
Sin: A light frosted pink toned champagne, gorgeous as a lid color . Available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line
Naked: A matte medium brown, perfect in the crease to blend out a darker color. Extremely smooth and pigmented.
Sidecar: A very frosted light brown with a lot of glitter, gets a little fall out crazy, but beautiful on the eyes.

Buck: A matte darker/medium warm brown, similar to Naked, it is very smooth, pigmented, and blends wonderfully.
Half Baked: A metallic golden bronze with a light frost finish. Also available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line.
Smog: Again a darker/medium brown but with a more satin finish. Looks fantastic paired with Half Baked. Available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line.
Darkhorse: A great crease shade with pretty much anything on the lid. A dark brown with a hint of gold shimmer.

Toasted: A pink toned brown with a smooth shimmery finish, a very unique color due to the pink under tones, but still very wearable. Available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line
Hustle: A taupe/purple toned dark brown with a slight shimmer/satin finish.
Creep: blackend slightly blue shade, with silver and light blue glitter.
Gunmetal: A very blackened metallic, blue-gray shade, with silver glitter.

Over all thoughts:
The naked palette has been, and still is one my favorite neutral palettes of all time. When traveling I could just grab this palette (even though I still can't help but pack way too many eyeshadows) and this is really all I would need to have a huge array of different neutral looks at hand. I love this palette and can honestly say it is one of my top must have makeup items, I even bought a back up this palette just for safety!
In my opinion 5 out of 5 stars and I would absolutely re-purchase.

The original Naked palette is available here http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P267200&categoryId=B70

Here is the Naked 2 palette. An over-all cooler toned palette than the first addition, with more grey, taupe and purple based colors. Includes a two sided brush (blending brush on one side and flat shader on the other) and a mini UD lip gloss in the color Naked.

Colors from left to right-
Foxy: A light matte neutral shade, perfect as a brown bone highlight.
Half Baked: The only shade that is in both palettes Half Baked is a shimmering golden bronze. Available individually in Urband Decay's permanent line.
Bootycall: Very pale pinky shade with a frost finish, sort of a slightly more pink version of Virgin from the first Naked palette.
Chopper: A copper bronze with some redish orange tones. Lot's of shimmer! Available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line.

Tease: A medium plum brown, with purple undertones.

Snakebite: A frosty dark brown with a touch of gold shimmer.

Suspect: A light bronze champagne. This shade has a beautiful sheen but it not overly shimmery. 

Pistol: Mid toned brownish silver with slight purple undertones.

Verve: A light silver champagne with a frost finish.
YDK: One of my favorite colors in this palette,YDK is a very shimmery mid-toned copper brown. Available individually in Urban Decay's permanent line.
Busted: A purple toned dark brown. A true taupe color with frost but not too much shimmer.
Blackout: A very black matte shade with great color payoff.

Over all thoughts

This palette did not disappoint at all, even filling the shoes of the first addition Naked Palette.
One of my favorite things about the Naked 2 is that it includes a matte light highlight shade and the Matte black (that works great as a liner) so you can do your full eye look with just one palette. These colors have the typical Urban Decay fantastic formula and blend beautifully. I really appreciate the cooler shades. I much prefer this palettes tin case over the first editions velvet packaging (which starts looking dirty quite quickly), much safer for travel. Over all I have NO regrets on purchasing this and if you love the first edition be sure to check this out. 5 out of 5 stars. Would probably re-purchase.

Available here: http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P302916&categoryId=B70

Break down!

Do you need both palettes? No you do not NEED both, but they are absolutely different enough that having both would not be a waste.
Down sides? I have a hard time finding anything bad to say about this palette at all. If you don't wear much neutrals of course this palette will not be for you. If any cons at all it would be not the best selection of matte crease shades, but that doesn't bother me personally.
Favorite shades in each? My favorite shade from the original Naked palette would have to be Darkhorse, I use it as my day to day crease shade. In the Naked 2 palette my favorite shade is hands down YDK. I love the shimmer and makes a gorgeous lid color.
Shade range: Classic Naked Palette, better crease selections, and just a bit more versatile.

Packaging: Naked 2 palette wins hands down here. It protects the shadows much better in the hard casing and doesn't get dirty so fast like the velvet packaging on the original.

Included items: Naked 2 takes this one as well specifically for the included double sided brush. Great for touch ups being a 2 in 1 item.

Pricing: Both palettes are $50 in the US.

And the big question which wins in this product battle?

I may be partial but my loyalty is to the original naked palette. I usually gravitate towards more cool toned eyeshadows but I can't help but reach for the classic when going to do my day to day makeup.  I absolutely recommend both palettes and believe Urban Decay has really hit a gold mine here.

Over all winer IS.....The classic Naked Palette.