Swatches: Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette

    This morning I was given a $50 gift card to Sephora as an early birthday present. Needless to say, I was pretty fricking excited. So off I headed to the mall, because right now is Sephora VIB and I couldn't pass up that 20%! I really REALLY wanted this palette for my birthday, so I knew that's what I would spend my card on. I also got my birthday freebie, and after taxes I only paid 50 cents!

The packaging is gorg! It's a swirly vortex of purpley goodness. It also has the button on the front which opens it, just like the original Vice palette. Inside the lid is a huge mirror, which is a nice bonus. 

So pretty! I can't wait to play with it tomorrow!!!

Just to save myself from being redundant and saying each shade is "super pigmented, creamy, blah blah blah" I'll just say that now. There are only a few shades that need an extra footnote, which I will include in shade descriptions. Other than that, every shade is AMAZEBALLS.

Smokeout: Blackened brown, with a hint of a plum undertone.

Lovesick: Matte black with silver glitter. **This shade was pretty dry and patchy.

Shellshock: Extreme silver metallic.

Coax: Rosey pink with a satin finish.

X Rated: Baby pink with an almost matte finish.

Prank: Dark, dark navy with a teal shift and teal shimmer. **This shade was the softest and most pigmented. May stain lids.

Madness: Bright, electric blue with a silver reflect sheen.

Strike: Yellowy orange gold with metallic finish.

Stash: Metallic olive green with gold flecks.

Poison: Charcoal blue/black with small silver flecks.

Radar: Medium warm brown with a satin (almost frost) finish.

Damaged: Metallic emerald green.

Voodoo: Metallic blackened purple. Mostly purple, but definitely has some black in it. **Applied a bit patchy.

Betrayal: Lilac purple with a strong blue duo chrome. 

Derailed: Metallic taupe brown.

Dope: Metallic icy pink.

Toxic: Rose gold with a satin finish.

Habit: Matte creamy beige.

Ambush: Deep bronzy brown. Metallic finish.

Rewind: Matte medium cool brown.

Final thoughts:

I could have done without 3 dark black/charcoal colors. One of them, Lovesick, is not very good at all. I think one would have been enough. Of course I will say more matte shades would have been nice, especially a nice warm brown. The 2 pink shades, Coax and  X Rated are similar enough that one is enough. Other than that, I love everything about this palette. The new formula of Urban Decay shadows is beyond fabulous. They are so smooth, apply so nicely, it's wonderful. 

I give this palette:

Swatchfest: Tarte Fantastic Foursome Blush Set

Hi my loves!

I'm back with another swatch post that I am SUPER excited about!

If you recall my last post about high-end fall launch products I was interested in, I mentioned I'd be picking this set up in the near future. I had some free time on Friday (thanks Mom!), so I headed off to Sephora before hitting the gym.

Product descriptions will follow each picture. Each swatch is a heavy swipe on the left, blended out on the right. 

I truly love this blush set, it did not disappoint me! If this is in your budget, I recommend picking it up. Remember that a single Tarte blush is $25, and all 4 of these are $35. Steal!!

Keep reading for pictures!

My Birthday List! (Fall Launches 2012)

     I always, ALWAYS hated having my birthday in November. Face it, it's cold, snowy, and just yuck. I wanted a summer birthday my whole life. But now that I've gotten into my love of makeup and I can appreciate where my birthday lies. As you all know, every major makeup brand is coming out with all their totally amazing holiday palettes and sets, RIGHT NOW. Right before my birthday! Now I look forward to my birthday because there are so many wonderful things for me to choose from. That makes me sounds 12 years old, and greedy, but I don't care. I love makeup, pretty things, and presents. What girl doesn't? 

Instead of doing a "My Thoughts Of Fall Launches" post this year, I thought I would turn it in to a birthday list, with only things I actually really love. I could go on and on with multiple posts if I tried to cover everything, and that's just not feasible. 

    I will say that NOTHING from Too Faced turns my crank this year. There are way too many repromoted shades in their palettes for my tastes. I don't own much from Too Faced, but with any one of the palettes, I'd end up with multiple dupes. 

Lastly, I am going to add something to the end of this post that I already purchased, because it defiantly deserves a spot on this list of Most Amazing Holiday Palettes. I will also add something that is not a Fall Launch, but also defiantly deserves to be on this list. 

So what's on my list?? Keep reading to find out!

Swatchfest: Urban Decay Vice Palette

     I was going to say: "Guess what I got?!?" but considering I have to title this blog post, I already gave it away lol. This just arrived in the mail today, and I was soooo excited to see it! I ordered this from the Urban Decay website on Monday, so shipping was pretty speedy.

    This palette contains 20 ALL NEW shades, no repromotes! That is so exciting. I hate it when Urban Decay sticks the same colors in every palette. I already have 2 Blackouts, 2 Half Bakeds, 2 Choppers, etc.  So I was pretty happy that these shadows were all new, and I wasn't getting anything I already own. 

    For my favorites, and least favorites from this palette, stay tuned after the swatches!

Swatchfest: Maybelline Fall 2012 - Downtown Brown

What's up guys? Not much here, just running errands for the week ahead, and lounging around the homefront. 

For today's post I have one of the LE nail polishes from the Maybelline Fall 2012 collection. As I stated yesterday, I am LOVING this collection. I don't think I've ever been so excited for any kind of makeup collection ever before. I love this. I think I may actually go back to Rite Aid and pick up at least one of the lipsticks. 

Anywhoozle, onto the swatch!

Swatchfest: Maybelline LE Fall 2012 - Eyeshadows

Let me just start out by saying that this collection is AMAZING. I love pretty much everything in it. If you are unaware this collection is available at places such as Rite Aid and Walgreens. The collection consists of:

2 Brow Pencils

2 Master Drama Eyeliners

4 Color Tattoos

4 Blush & Bronzers

4 EyeStudio Quads

6 Lipsticks

6 Nail Colors

I have swatched the Color Tattoos already, and you can see that post here. I do need to add Mossy Green to that post, so please excuse my laziness on that. I have 2 of the nail polishes that I will swatch soon, but today I have 2 of the EyeStudio quads to share with you. The 2 quads I picked up were #200 - Smokey Cinnamon, and #400 - Olive Martini. 

Let me preface this by saying: At my Rite Aid they were also repromoting a quad from last years fall collection call 'Strut It Suede'. I don't know if that is a repromote for this collection, or if it was just in the wrong spot. So if you were looking for that quad last year, check the new display. You may get lucky. I have that quad (I found it at Big Lots for $3), so if you'd like swatches of it, let me know in the comments below. 

Swatchfest: Maybelline 2012 LE Color Tattoos

Hi loves! Today I have for you the very much searched for by me, new Color Tattoos. Very exciting stuff ladies! I have been searching high and low for these babies. I've been to probably 5 different Rite Aids, 2 Walgreens, and Meijer. No luck. Then last night, I just had a feeling. I told my husband to pull into this Rite Aid, and there they were! A full display just for me! ;-) 

I did notice on the display that they are repromoting 2 permanent shades with collection: Bad to the Bronze and Audacious Asphalt (which I already own). They also have a little eyeshadow brush on the display, to use with these products I am assuming. There are 4 shades total in this collection, but I only picked up 3. (I'm thinking I may pick up the green one as well). These retail for $6.69 each at Rite Aid. There are no deals going on with Maybelline this week unfortunately, but I did have a $2 UPreward coupon, bring my total to $20. 

The 3 shades I picked up, as you can see in the above picture: are Barely Beige, Gold Shimmer, and Rich Mahogany.

On to swatches, so keep reading!

Urban Decay 24/7 Liners Travel Set swatches

24/7 Liners Travel Set - Electric ($32 Sephora, Ulta, urbandecay)
This set is all bright colors, plus a black liner. Both sets come with a black, but out of the 2, Perversion is the blackest black. Both Perversion and Junkie are NOT in the permanent line, the other 3 are. I wore the blue (Radium) on my upper waterline the other day, and after 12 hours I had to remove it with eye makeup remover. That's how long lasting these eyeliners are.

24/4 Travel Set - Naked ($32 Sephora, Ulta, urbandecay)
No matter what I did, I could not get the greatest pictures of these. I apologize, because these browns are GORGEOUS! Stray Dog and Demolition are not in the permanent line, the other 3 are. Stray Dog and Underground are my favorites from this set.

Ugghhhh! I hate that I could not get these to photograph as good as the others. The Naked set is the one I was (and still am) most excited about. I love all these eyeliners and have tried every one of them out. The teal (Junkie) is soooo unbelievably pretty.

 Happy beautifying bloggers!

Thoughts on New Fall Launches pt. 2

URBAN DECAY
Mariposa palette - $39
  This palette comes with 10 eye shadows and a travel size eye shadow brush. The package is actually quite small; each eye shadow is .03 oz. The case itself is a little tin with the product nestled inside. The eye shadows are in a cardboard tray, which is kinda chintzy. A lot of these colors are re- promotes. I know for sure that you can find Skimp, Haight, & Gunmetal in other palettes. I think if you are going to spend $39 on an UD palette, you might as well spend $9 extra and just get the Naked palette. This too is a pass for me.

BARE ESCENTUALS
bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 2.0 - $20
  Basically what this product is, is a pressed mineral form of the bareMinerals eye shadows. Each compact has 2 coordinating colors and a sponge tip applicator. Each color is about the size of a nickle, if that.... FOR $20! That is ridiculous! I don't care if this was the greatest thing on Earth, that is way too much money. A single Cover Girl eye shadow has at least 3 times more product, for only $3-$4. bareMinerals also has a quad, called the READY Eyeshadow 4.0, which is $30. Still too much money in my opinion. Oh, I forgot, you can get the complete collection of 15 duos for only $420. My heart murmured a little typing that...

BOTTOM LINE IS:  Most of these palettes don't seem worth it to me. I know this is only a few of the new products coming out, but these are the ones I've personally looked at and can make an educated judgment about. I don't want others to feel like they NEED something, when it's just not worth the hype. I hate buying things and regretting it, and I wouldn't want anyone else to make a regret purchase. Having said that, that DOES NOT mean that you absolutely shouldn't buy things that I don't care for. Makeup is subjective, as are my opinions. I personally feel that if you want a high end palette, go for the Urban Decay Naked palette. It IS worth all the hype. It has 12 eye shadows in it, an eyelid primer, and a full size eye shadow brush. The casing is beautiful, and every color is wearable.

I hope this is helpful to someone, Happy Beautifying!

Thoughts on New Fall Launches pt. 1

     I was walking around Ulta today and got to check out some of the new fall launches for some high end companies. I've read up on these on blogs like Temptalia, and thought I'd see for myself. These are my honest thoughts, and as being someone on a budget some of these products are not worth the money.

TOO FACED
In Your Dreams palette - $39
 This palette comes with 9 eye shadows, 3 cheek colors, and 3 lip glosses. The eye shadows are all neutral and smokey colors with one oddball pink shade. All of the products are very small. The box is about the size of a school notebook, and about the same thickness too. It's a cardboard box that opens like a book. The shape is interesting and the picture on the front is very pretty. However I just don't feel this product is worth it. You can find all of these shades in drugstore products for less, and the packaging  just seems cheap to me.

Glamour to Go,  Dream  -$22

 This compact comes with 8 eye shadows, 2 blushes and one lip gloss. I understand this is supposed to be for travel, I get it. But this is the size of a deck of cards, and it costs more than $20. The top opens to show the eye shadows, and it has a small pull out drawer containing the blush and lip gloss. The packaging itself is actually pretty sturdy, and comes with a mirror, which is important for travel. I don't know, I just can't see myself grabbing for this often. You can get an 88 color Coastal Scents palette for the same price, and trust me, you can travel with that as well. This is also one that's not worth the money to me. 

Beautiful Dreamer - $46
 This collection comes with an exclusive eye shadow quad, blush/bronzer duo, deluxe size Shadow Insurance in Candlelight, a full size LashGASM mascara, and a LE pink lip gloss. All are enclosed in a very cute little makeup bag. Out of the 3 Too Faced launches I like this one best. Except for the Shadow Insurance they are all full size products/ compacts, and the bag is GORGEOUS! $46 is still a little steep, but this would be great to get as a gift.

URBAN DECAY

2 for 1 Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original and Sin) $19
 I don't consider this a terrible deal, considering one UDPP is $19, and you are getting 2 full size for the same price. HOWEVER, I do have a small UDPP, and I don't think it performs any better than my $1 e.l.f eyelid primer. If you are a die-hard UDPP fan, I say "go for it!". I'm going to pass on this one myself.

24/7 Travel Set of 5 (Naked & Electric) $32 each

 I did buy the Electric set today (I know, I have issues lol) so I now own both these sets. Is $32 a lot for 5 eyeliners? You bet your butt it is, for any other eyeliner. These are NOTHING like any other eyeliner I've ever used. They glide on like a dream, and the staying power is unmatched. The colors and pigmentation are to die for. I'm SOO happy I picked these up. Ask Santa to get these while he can because they ARE worth the money in my book. A single 24/7 liner is $20, so this is defiantly a deal.

24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash - $34
 This is the same concept as the 24/7 liners, but it is an eye shadow pencil. They remind me of NYX Jumbo Pencils, but shorter. There are 3 neutral colors, one electric blue, and one bright purple. The breakdown makes each pencil $6.80. A NYX Jumbo Pencil in $4.49 each, and they are bigger in size. It seems like a neat collectible thing, but I'd rather get more bang for my buck and get a bunch of NYX pencil. I'll pass on this also.

What are your thoughts? Will you be asking Santa for any of these for Christmas, or is high-end makeup just too much for you? Have a beautiful day bloggers!