Makeup

December 2014 Favorites

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December 2014 FavoritesDecember 2014 Favorites
1. Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil, $16 / 2. Kat von D Foiled Love Lipstick in Adora, discontinued /
3. OPI Gelcolor in I’m Not Really a Waitress, $15 (varies) / 4. Red Carpet Manicure Glitz and Glamorous, $10 /
5. L’Oreal Infalliable Eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe, $7

Rather than waiting a week to get these out, I decided to publish my December 2014 Favorites today. I feel like I should have more on my list, but they kind of overlap with last month…and I imagine next month’s will overlap with this month, too. :P I hope 2014 has been awesome to you, and that 2015 is even more fulfilling.

Before moving on to my favorites, today is the final day for my Urban Decay Naked2 Basics giveaway – it ends at 11:59PM EST, go check it out!

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Everything Nice Palette Tutorial: Teal Look

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A while ago, I shared a creepy, low-res shot of this eye makeup (all single eye shots are creepy, face it) I did with the Too Faced holiday palette. I had taken it with my cell phone, but got a few requests to produce both a tutorial of the look and an Everything Nice Palette Tutorial. Although it is starting to be a bit late for holiday parties, this look is appropriate for them, and will carry you through any New Years’ festivities you may have. It would also be pretty cool for Mardi Gras or…you know, if you just felt like it (who needs an occasion?).

5hXauN0Everything Nice Palette Tutorial: Teal Look ft. Too Glam

Start with clean skin (obviously, we aren’t savages). When doing this look, I recommend doing your eyes first as these shadows have a good bit of fallout. You don’t want to mar your base, and who really has time for shadow shields?

Prep your eyes as you see fit – I’m going to use Too Faced Shadow Insurance. You can use whatever primer or concealer your heart desires, but since I have it, I’ll use it for this Everything Nice Palette Tutorial.

Next, grab a fluffy blending brush (I’m, using bdellium tools 785, a tapered fluffy blender), dip into Fawned of You (neutral light brown from the top row, second-to-last) and apply in your crease using circular and windshield-wiper motions. This will help us blend more later as well as provide definition to our eye socket.
 Everything Nice Palette Tutorial - Crease Shade

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Too Faced Everything Nice Swatches

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Remember this?

DSC_0126

I hope so, I shared its unboxing last week. That was exciting and all, but more exciting (in my opinion) would be looking at this limited-edition mega-palette in a bit more detail.

Let’s just jump right into the Too Faced Everything Nice Palette Swatches and review!

Starting with the top row of shadows:

Everything Nice Swatches - Row 1Too Faced Everything Nice Swatches

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November 2014 Favorites

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November 2014 FavoritesNovember 2014 Favorites
1. Innisfree Hand Cream, $? / 2. bareMinerals Concealer Brush, $20* /
3. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter, $5 / 4. Alpha Hydrox 10% AHA Moisturizing Lotion, $10 /
5. Too Faced Everything Nice Palette, $56

Blah blah, November went sooooo fast, etc. You know the drill. November 2014 Favorites!

But before the jump, have you entered the EcoTools Eye Enhancing Duo Brush Giveaway? Open until December 16!

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Too Faced Everything Nice Palette Unboxing

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I listed the limited edition Everything Nice Palette from Too Faced in my 2014 Prestige Makeup (Holiday) Gifts. Fortunately, my awesome husband not only got it for me, but gave it to me early (we’re kind of bad about that). I’ve had a few weeks to play with it now, and I have a ton to say – but for now, we’ll just unbox the Everything Nice Palette to avoid TL;DR.

Here’s the box, front (left) and back (right):

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Box Front and Back

Let’s crack it open. It says, #own your pretty. Or is it #ownyourpretty?

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Unboxing 1 - #ownyourpretty

The glittery, hot pink clutch is safely tucked in along with a deluxe sample tube of Too Faced Better than Sex mascara.

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Unboxing 2

Get rid of those and lift the flap…bingo!

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Unboxing 3

“That’s what pretty girls are made of,”

Too Faced Everything Nice PaletteEverything Nice Palette by Too Faced

Glorious makeup, out of its box. Twenty shadows, two blushes, a bronzer, a highlight, three brushes, and an impossibly glittery clutch.

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - All Unboxed

For cheap tools included with a value palette, the three included brushes aren’t bad. It includes a shader, an angled brush, and a flat face brush.

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Tools and Clutch Detail

And here’s a closer, top-down view of the Everything Nice Palette, opened:

Too Faced Everything Nice Palette - Top Down

Although the Everything Nice Palette is similar in format and color scheme to last year’s Too Faced mega palette (which was Too Faced My Favorite Things), it is different enough to be worth buying if you have last year’s edition (I do not have it). Retailing exclusively at Sephora, it goes for $56 in stores and online (when it isn’t sold out)! I’m curious to see if it will linger after the holidays for a little while as its predecessor did.

Review and swatches to come soon!

ck one mascara by Calvin Klein – First Impression

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ck one mascarack one mascara

The Ulta Rewards member birthday gift for 2014 was a full-sized tube of Calvin Klein’s ck one mascara. I ran through my last test subject, Guerlain Maxi-Lash pretty quickly and this one was next in line.

ck one mascara wand

Available exclusively at Ulta, ck one mascara features a wand that can be adjusted via a twist of the cap depending on what effect you wish for your lashes – definition or volume. Before actually opening it, I was under the impression that when the cap was twisted that an additional set of bristles would protrude from the wand; I was intrigued by what I perceived to be a cool meetup of engineering and beauty. When I opened it, it was the first thing I examined.

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