Prestige

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded is Actually Pretty Cool

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I’ve expressed my boredom with the litany of Vice Palettes from Urban Decay, but I’m actually excited about their newest one, UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded.

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded celebrates Urban Decay’s twenty (…what?!) years in the industry, and features a mix of vintage (read: discontinued shades that people pine for), bestselling, and new shadows. Check it out:

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded
UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded

Of course, stock photos never do products justice. Regrettably, I don’t have one (and probably won’t be able to get my mitts on it) – but there are some sneak peaks from people who have already secured one or gotten a PR kit.

The $56 Ulta-exclusive UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded features three new shades, five vintage shades (Gash!), five previous Vice-exclusives, and seven bestsellers (like Smog, Midnight Cowboy, Twice Baked).

The full complement of shades, according to Ulta’s site:

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2015 Favorites

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I’m approaching my annual favorites post a little differently than I did last year. Instead of breaking it down by section, I’m just going to slap all my 2015 Favorites together. I liked plenty of things, but these are what I liked most.

2015 Favorites

Naked2 Basics - Social

Naked2 Basics, $29 – has been my lifesaver. Even when I first swatched it and decided I required it, I didn’t imagine I’d come to use it as much or as often as I did and do. Personally, I think it is superior to its predecessor…but I don’t own its predecessor, so I haven’t run it through the gauntlet, yet.

elftickledpink

e.l.f. Studio Blush in Tickled Pink, $3 – is a very subtle, pleasant peachy-pink hue. I wear it the most of all the blush I own; it’s hard to overdo, and isn’t too much for work.

cremeinyourcoffee_bullet

MAC Creme in Your Coffee, $17 – Such a nice MLBB, it stays and wears away well. Reapplies easily, and has that lovely signature MAC lipstick scent. I will repurchase a billion of these.

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Now Over – Deals & Steals – $15 Purity

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Every now and then I come across a great deal that I can’t help but share, regardless of my posting schedule. Philosophy’s cult-favorite Purity facial cleanser normally runs $24 for 8oz. Over the holidays, Sephora had an online-only 8oz for $15 special. Alas, it sold out swiftly.

PurityNordstrom Philosophy Purity Duo, $15

To my delight (and perhaps yours), Nordstrom has an 8oz bottle PLUS a 1oz travel/sample bottle for only $15. Because it’s Nordstrom, it’s always free shipping.

I’ve had a 2-or 3-oz bottle for AGES because a tiny bit goes a long way (especially with my Clarisonic, but even without!) and I alternate it with Cetaphil Gentle, so this will last me nearly forever. I have some air travel coming up this year, so the 1oz bottle is welcome to withstand TSA scrutiny, too.

The sale, the shipping, and 3% back at eBates made me jump earlier this morning. Now I’m good on face wash (combined with my current stock) for over a year! Some people like to use it to clean their brushes, too; as for me, I’ll stick to using it on my face, but for product minimalists out there, this is a multitasker.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder – Dim Light

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Hourglass Ambient Lighting PowderHourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

If you’re looking for the Ambient Strobing Powders, sorry to disappoint. I haven’t tried one.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder line launched a couple years ago, and since then many have adopted them as their holy grail powders. They were firmly out of my reach, however, at $45 a pop. Lovely though they may be, are they worth almost fifty bucks? I’m skeptical.

Some months ago, a travel size of Dim Light (what appears to me to be one of the bestselling shades) came available at Sephora for only $22. I was lucky enough to win a wishlist-based contest in which the winnings were your choice of items of up to $X amount, so I chose the small (only 0.049oz) Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder to give a shot, for science and curiosity and, well, I don’t own any highlighters (really!).

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MAC 217 vs bdellium 776

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Finally.

What?

217vs776

I got my hands on my first MAC brush. I’ve actually had it for a couple months now but have waited to share (I do that). In truth, I expected my first MAC brush to be a 242; you know, all that pigment-packing glory? Oh well.

So I finally got what many consider to be the Holy Grail of blending brushes – I was able to use Plenti points at the MAC counter in Macy’s to get a few bucks off it. Let’s put MAC 217 vs bdellium 776 (what I’ve been using and have been just OK with) – and see which is better.

MAC 217 vs bdellium 776MAC 217 vs bdellium 776

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Urban Vices Point Perk

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During the 20% off Sephora VIB sale, I lost my mind slightly and went for the Urban Vices Point Perk, blowing 500 of my Beauty Insider points. I was going to spend 100 points on a setting powder, but they ran out. I’ve been banking points for a bit (but not because of the point disaster earlier this year), so why the hell not?

Urban Vices Point PerkUrban Vices Point Perk – Urban Decay for Sephora

The Urban Vices Point Perk set isn’t earth-shattering. It isn’t the best value among the other 500 Point Perk sets they’ve offered, but it isn’t the worst either. It features a shadow quad housed in a cardboard palette with mirror, a sample of UDPP, and a deluxe sample-sized 24/7 liner in Smokeout (which supposedly matches the fourth shade in the quad, and lives in the quad).

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