Nars And God Created The Woman Palette Review & Tutorial

When I saw that Nars was coming out with another installment of their "And God Created The Woman" palette I got a bit excited. Although the original is not available in most Sephora stores, it is still available for purchase on the Sephora website. I considered getting this palette but the thing that stopped me was not having $60 to drop on an eyeshadow pallet (if I did have $60 however I probably would not have given it a second thought). I found myself in Sephora a couple days ago- this time with $60 in my pocket and no shame on spending it on eyeshadow. I was so new that I had to ask an employee to get it for me from the back of the store. As I came to know, new doesn't always mean good. I did not have the luxury of seeing it out and swatching the shadows before purchasing. When I got home that night I swatched all of the colors to take pictures of them and I was surprised to find three of the six (50%) of the shadows were very patchy.

This palette contains six .03oz eyeshaddows in:

     From left to right, top to bottom: Bellissima II, Kalahari, Night Clubbing, Alhambra l, Galapagos,        Coconut Grove 

This set also comes with a .09oz Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and a mini #42 Wide Contour brush.

 Bellissima II, Kalahari, Night Clubbing (no flash)

  Bellissima II, Kalahari, Night Clubbing (w/ flash)

    

Alhambra I, Galapagos, Coconut Grove (no flash)

Alhambra I, Galapagos, Coconut Grove (w/ flash)

Clearly the best shadows in this palette are Kalahari and Alhambra I, they were smooth and pigmented. As for the matte shades which obviously did not swatch well, they applied nicely when used with a brush. Some blending is required though. 

As for the primer; I do enjoy it. I have very oily eye lids and this did not crease on me after 10 hours of wear. The colors lost a bit of vibrancy but after 10 hours what eyeshadows wouldn't? 

The brush included is surprisingly nice. The bristles are soft, but don't expect the same quality as the full size brushes. But nevertheless, it gets the job done and is great for traveling. 

For this price, I could buy a Dior 5 Colour Eyeshadow Palette which totals .21oz and amazing quality. This Nars Palette totals .18oz for the eyeshadow. Even with the primer and brush this just does not seem worth the money. 

Final thoughts: This set is not terrible by any means, but it left me wanting more for the price. Instead of buying this palette I would invest in something else, such as the Dior 5 Colour Palettes or just buying the Nars duos. 

Click here for a tutorial using this palette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwKHQbKhbmo

                                                                                 Truly yours, Taylor

Review: The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes

It has been a while since I have purchased The Body Shop's Shimmer Cubes so I feel it is a good time to do a review on them. I have the quad in "Chocolate Box." This quad costs $22.00, but can usually be found discounted. The shades included (from left to right, top to bottom) are "Dark Chocolate," "Chocolate Chip," "Honeycomb," and "Marshmallow." "Dark Chocolate" is a dark brown with a tint of red. "Chocolate Chip"  is a nice cool-toned taupe shade. Next, we have "Honey Comb" which is a bronze/copper color. Finally, "Marshmallow" is a pink-toned champagne. This color is the lightest shade in the quad but I personally think it is too shimmery to use as a brow bone highlight, although it is nice on the tear duct and lid.

As far as the packaging, well it is not very convenient. Each cube is packaged individually in a plastic box and then the four little boxes are in a bigger box. So each time you want to use this quad you have to open each box and then you will end up having little plastic lids everywhere. This is not a huge deal but it will make using this quad a bit more time consuming.   

The quality is not really great with this quad. The intensity of the pigment in the shadows is mediocre; but can be intensified when using them wet. This is not an all in one palette. Since all the colors are so shimmery you will need to use some matte shades to balance it out (probably for the brow bone). I do appreciate how The Body Shop uses good ingredients so if your eyes get easily irritated from makeup, maybe this will work for you. 

Final thoughts: This quad is just okay. For the price I believe you can find better at the drugstore for cheaper. 

                                                                         Truly yours, Taylor 

Little Stop at Sephora

Sephora has been feeling a bit generous lately with all their discounts. 25% off by being a VIB Rouge, 20% off by being a VIB and 15% off when being a Beauty Insider. Although I have a vast obsession with makeup, I am only a Beauty Insider. If I had a an income I would spend it all on makeup (don't show this to my parents). Because of my lack of employment my pay days are few and far between. I decided to take advantage of this discount since I am trying to become a VIB this year. I purchased two things, both of which I am extremely excited about.

I went into the store intending to come out with the NARS Smugeproof Eyeshaddow Base but, unfortunately they were all sold out. Don't worry, you won't be hearing any complaining from me. Instead I picked up the much raved about Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer. I got the smallest size because this is very expensive and I wanted to make sure it lived up to the hype before I dished out $52.00 for the 1 oz size.

I am one who loves a set that comes with multiple products. So what if they are smaller? They make perfect travel items and it is a great way to try out a bunch of products to see what you like and dislike. I picked up the Benefit "How To Look The Best at Everything" in the light kit. This includes the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, two Boi-ing concealers, the Pore-fessional primer, and the Hello Flawless powder. This is the first product I have from Benefit so I am so excited to try out all of these different things! Also Benefit never fails to deliver the cutest packaging. I mean come on, it looks like a book!

I will be using these products throughout the next month or so and will be doing in depth reviews on all of them!

                                                                                      Truly yours, Taylor

What's In My Travel Makeup Bag??

I'm headed to Orlando for a couple days ( four to be exact) and I thought I would share the beauty products I am bringing. I have a tendency to over pack when it comes to clothes but I think I did a pretty good job of only bringing the necessities. These are the products I use on a daily basis and can't leave behind. 

~ Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation

~ Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Concealer 

~ L'Oreal True Match Crayon Concealer

~Maybelline Fit Me Powder

~ The Balm Frat Boy Blush

~ Old Revlon quad (to fill in brows)

~ Urban Decay Naked Palette  

~ Maybelline Great Lash-Clear (for brows)

~ Urban Decay Primer Potion

~ MAC Lipstick- Snob

~ MAC Lipstick- Peach Blossom

~ L'Oreal Lash Out Butterfly Mascara

~ Eye brush

~ Kabuki brush

~ ELF powder brush

~ Eco Tools Blush Brush

                                                                        Truly yours, Taylor

Peach Blossom Lipstick- MAC

I was at the mall with my mother yesterday (not much different than any other day) and we decided to take a look in MAC. I am a big fan of their lipsticks and never fail to leave with swatches all over my hands. I came across the most wearable, natural lipstick I have seen. We all have those days where we don't want to leave the house with naked lips but we want them to look natural. Peach Blossom is this shade. It is a cremesheen lipstick with pearl. It is a peachy rose; kind of like a my lips but better color. It is very moisturizing because of the formula and leaves a  nice shine. This is defiantly my new go-to lipstick!

My First Body Shop Experience!

So I recently made my first purchases from The Body Shop and I am very excited to share them with you! I have an unhealthy obsession with groupon and if you don't have an account with them you need one. I was browsing the site last week and they always have gift cards you can purchase for half the price. So I bought a $30 gift card to The Body Shop and I only paid $15 for it. I don't understand why they would do this but I'm not complaining. I have also purchased promotions similar to this with Starbucks and American Apparel. I was at the outlet mall nearby and I totally forgot there was a Body Shop in there. The whole store was 40% off so I grabbed a basket and got to work.

I ended up purchasing the cult-favorite olive body butter which is so incredibly thick and luxurious. I also got the Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask; I have heard great things about this mask and having oily skin with large pores, I was excited to give this a go. I have been looking for an eye cream, I am still very young so I don't need any anti-aging properties. I am just using it for preventative reasons so I felt this was a good one to start off with. Finally I purchased the famous Shimmer Cubes quad in 06-Chocolate Box (this is their best selling shade). I am very pleased with my new goodies and I will keep you updated on what I thing of all these products!

                                                            Truly yours, Taylor

Garnier Clean Shine Control Cleansing Gel Review

I am back!! This is my first actual blog post in months! I am happy to be telling you guys about a new cleanser that I have been using for the past week. I purchased this cleanser at Walgreen's. When I saw this cleanser I was immediately drawn in by the fact that it claims to have charcoal in it. This is seen in high end skincare but rarely in the drugstore. Popular high end products known for containing charcoal include, Boscia Revitalizing Black Hydration Gel, Lush Dark Angels Facial Cleanser and the most famous one of all, drumroll please.... the Glam Glow Super Mud Clearing Treatment (I want this so bad but $70 for a mask is a bit steep for me). Being an oily-skinned girl I defiantly had to try this out. For those of you who don't know, charcoal is great for oily skin; it sucks up oil and brings many impurities to the surface of your skin. This cleanser claims to dissolve pore clogging dirt, excess oil and makeup. It is oil free, dermatologist tested and ophthalmologist tested. Charcoal powder is the fifth ingredient so don't expect this to be black. It is actually a very sheer grey. I use this in the morning rather than at night because personally I would rather have matte skin throughout the day. I use this with my little rubber scrublet. You only need a pea sized amount for your face and it lathers up nicely. I love the sent of this, think mentholy, like if you were at the spa. One thing that does bother me about this cleanser is how liquidy it is. The thin consistency makes it tricky to get the amount of product you need and can be a bit messy. I do notice my skin looking matte after I rinse this off, but it does not keep it matte throughout the day (I wasn't really expecting it to). I personally have quite large pores especially on my nose. This didn't de-clog them, but again I was not expecting it to. Overall I am pleased with this cleaner and think it is a great drugstore choice! It retails for $7.99 is is pretty accessible. 

                                                         Truly Yours, Taylor

Bloglovin

So I know I haven't posted in a million year, I have just been extremely busy with school. Recently I have been getting back into blogs and I have discovered a bunch of new ones that I love. I found this app called Bloglovin which is a platform that allows people to follow their favorite blogs so they are all in one place. You can also get emails when a blogger posts something new. I am really enjoying the app so far and it makes it so much easier for me to access blogs on my phone. I am happy to say that my blog is now on this app/website so you can follow me. I have a bunch of new things I want to blog about and am just so excited to start up again!
                                                                                                        Truly yours, Taylor.
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11845445/?claim=x999jsz6y28">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Disco Kitty

Today was quite chilly for us Floridians, the weather was in the low 60s down here. This is the ensemble I put together for a day of shopping and seeing a movie.

Cat knit: H&M

Bralette: Victoria's Secret

Jean Jacket: H&M

Charcoal Disco Pants: H&M

Loafers: Colombia

Chain Necklace: H&M

Cross-body Bag: Target 

Lipstick: Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie