Blog Update & Sugarpill Edward Scissorhands Palette Review + Swatches

 Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

First, I want to start with an update.  I kept up very well with posting this year except for two weeks when I wasn't feeling well, so I'm thinking of stepping my blog up a notch for 2016 and post twice a week instead of once a week.  My schedule will now include a post every Monday and Thursday at the same time (10 am PST).  In addition to more posts, I want to add more variety to my content.  Instead of mainly doing product reviews and swatches, I want to include some makeup looks/tutorials, style ideas/clothing hauls, and maybe some lifestyle posts.  Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions or requests on what you'd like to see feel free to leave me a comment!

Now, onto the main event: Sugarpill released a limited edition Edward Scissorhands 25th anniversary eyeshadow palette this past Fall.  The packaging is perfection.  I love the artwork on the outside.  It has a magnetic closure and a decent size mirror on the inside.  There are 6 shadows in this palette.  There is one shade that I'm disappointed in though, and that's the shade Castle On The Hill.  I couldn't get any pigmentation out of this shade.  For my swatch photo at end of this post, I REALLY dug my finger into the pan and went over the swatch almost a dozen times and I still barely got anything out of it.  I thought for sure if I dug in any harder I was going to crush the shadow into pieces.  Fortunately, it's just a basic dark brown shade which I have a ton of, so it's not too devastating of a loss.  Now, if it had been Ice Angel, The Inventor, or Suburbia...I probably would've sent this back.  Anyway, I really like this palette, but I wish Castle On The Hill had more pigmentation.

Home Sweet Home

Ice Angel

The Inventor

Suburbia

Heart-Shaped Cookie

Castle On The Hill

Were you able to pick up this palette?  What are your thoughts?  Was Castle On The Hill a dud for anyone else?  I'm loving all of the other shades!

Thank you for stopping by!

Holiday 2015 Makeup & Beauty Sets

Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!

As I'm sure most of you know, all of the holiday 2015 makeup and beauty products have been released.  The holiday packaging (for most products) is always adorable plus there's the amazing products inside, so resisting the urge to buy ALL of the makeup has proven quite difficult for me.  Out of all the limited edition releases, here are my holiday 2015 picks (some of these you may recognize from my last few blog posts).

The first holiday set I picked up is the Mi Vida Loca Remix Studded Kiss Lip Set from Kat Von D.  This set includes seven mini lipsticks in the studded black tubes from her permanent range including Noble, Halo, Bachelorette, Sexer, Wolvesmouth, Coven, and NaYeon and one full size limited edition shade called Gold Blooded in a studded white tube.  I think this is a great kit because you do get the full size limited edition shade and you also get to try out a range of permanent shades without committing to the full size price.  (A full size single lipstick retails for $21.)  This kit retails for $42 and is only sold at Sephora.

Another set that I ordered is the Sephora Favorites Superstars kit.  This kit comes with seven full size products, one travel size product, and five deluxe sample size products.  This kit retails for $75 but has a value of $207.

Next up is also from Kat Von D.  It's her Mi Vida Loca Remix Eyeshadow palette.  This palette has a total of 24 shades ranging from neutrals to bright, vivid colors of the rainbow.  There are 7 neutral shades and 17 colors.  There is a mixture of matte, shimmer, and glitter shades.  This palette retails for $59 and is sold exclusively at Sephora.

MAC had a few limited edition releases over the past couple of months.  One of which was the Magic of the Night collection.  I love the metallic packaging on this collection.  I had only planned on purchasing two products - the Evening Rendezvous lipstick and the Oh Darling powder, but by the time I placed my order the Oh Darling powder was already sold out so I only purchased the one lipstick.

MAC also collaborated with a few artists for some limited edition releases.  Out of all of them, I only picked up the Dita Von Tease lipstick and a lipstick from the Ellie Goulding collection.  Dita's red looked amazing as did the limited edition packaging, so I had to grab it.  Everything from Ellie's collection looked amazing, but I only ordered the one lipstick.

 

 Another Sephora Favorites holiday set is the Brow Raising Brow Wardrobe kit.  There are two options available for this one: Medium/Dark and Light/Medium.  Each kit has seven products (five of them being full size).  I purchased the Medium/Dark kit which includes: one deluxe sample size Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel, one full size Benefit Cosmetics High Brow Pencil, one full size Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown, one full size Kat Von D Tattoo Brow in Medium Brown, one full size Smashbox Cosmetics Brow Tech Gloss Stick in Brunette, one full size Sephora Collection tweezers, and one Sephora Collection compact mirror.  I was running very low on my ABH Brow Wiz and needed to purchase another when I came across this kit.  Now I'll have enough brow products to last me a year.  This kit has a value of $102 but only retails for $40!  (The ABH Brow Wiz alone costs $21.)

Too Faced collaborated with vegas_nay (on Instagram) to create the Stardust by Vegas Nay palette which is sold exclusively through Too Faced and Ulta.  The palette retails for $45 and includes 12 shadows, a deluxe sample size Better Than Sex mascara, a deluxe sample size Shadow Insurance primer, and a deluxe sample size Glamour Dust Glitter in the shade Nude Beam.

 I also got the Real Techniques Bold Metals Essentials brush and clutch set.  This set comes with a clutch bag and three Bold Metals brushes: an angled powder brush, a tapered blush brush, and a crease shadow brush.  I already know I won't use the clutch bag, but this was still a good deal for the three brushes.  I ordered this on Black Friday for $31 (the shadow brush alone costs $16).  These brushes are incredibly soft.

Sephora also has a limited edition Disney collection available which consists of six beautifully designed compact mirrors with Disney princesses on the front.  The Disney princesses are Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Aurora, and Elsa and Anna.  I picked up four: Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Elsa and Anna.  I really wanted all of them, but Ariel and Belle sold out before I could order them.  I believe Elsa & Anna and Snow White are the only ones that are still available.

I also picked up the First Aid Beauty Peace, Joy, & Fab kit.  For $54, this kit is an amazing value.  When I purchased this, I had a $25 off of $50 coupon which brought this down to only $29.  This set comes with a 6 oz Ultra Repair Cream ($30), a 2 oz Face Cleanser ($10), a 28 count of Facial Radiance Pads ($15), a 2 oz Vitamin Hydrating Mist ($16), and a 1.7 oz Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Sleeping Cream ($38).

  
Guerlain came out with some beautiful holiday pieces as well.  One of which is their Meteorites Powder.  First, let's appreciate how the packaging resembles a Christmas ornament.  This is seriously so cute and so well thought out.  The meteorites themselves are beautiful too.  Some of them are shaped like stars which I think makes them extra special.  This is my first Guerlain purchase and I was not disappointed.

What holiday items did you pick up over the past couple of months?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Too Faced x Vegas Nay Stardust Palette Review + Swatches

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?  Is anyone else as excited as I am that Christmas is next week?!

I finally, FINALLY caved in to all the hype and purchased the limited edition Too Faced Stardust by Vegas Nay palette.  If you don't already know who Naomi is, she is a social media beauty guru who goes by vegas_nay on Instagram and has 7 million+ followers.  She collaborated with Too Faced Cosmetics to produce a Las Vegas and Instagram themed palette.  This set is sold exclusively on Too Faced's website and at Ulta.  The palette comes with 12 shadows that are a mix of matte, shimmer, and glitter, a deluxe sample size Better Than Sex mascara, a deluxe sample size Shadow Insurance primer, and a deluxe sample size Glamour Dust Glitter in the shade Nude Beam.

Most of these shadows are smooth and pigmented.  However, the three glittery shades in this palette aren't as smooth and are actually very chunky.  They're still beautiful colors though.  The only shade whose pigmentation is disappointing is Follow Me.  I had to go over multiple times and really dig into the pan to get pigmentation from this one.  But I have plenty of purple shades to pick from in other palettes, so it isn't too big of a deal for me.  I haven't tried the Better Than Sex mascara or the Shadow Insurance before, but I've heard good things about both so I'm pretty excited to try those out.  I like that this set comes with six eye makeup pictorials (which all look stunning) for anyone who is unsure of what looks to do using this palette or for anyone who is a beginner in makeup.

Packaging & Swatches

Have you picked up this set?  What are your thoughts?

I hope this was helpful.  Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!