Seeing Double with Hourglass

I'm sure all my fellow makeup addicts have seen photos and swatches of the new Hourglass Modernist Eyeshadow Palettes by now. Seems like they've been a pretty major fail across the board, with an unfortunate texture that's just inexcusable in such a high-end brand.

But, on a happier note, I wanted to take a look at two of their earlier releases, from which much of their caché has come.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is everything I dreamed it would be. Two of the shades, Dim Light and Radiant Light, can be purchased separately, but Incandescent Light is exclusive this this palette. They're really all lovely and I've been enjoying the palette both for its variety and compactness. Incandescent Light is my favorite, though, it works perfectly as a highlight and also manages to give my makeup a glow without looking oily when used lightly all over the face.

Now, when I was making my Christmas list, that was the palette I had in mind, but one of Sephora's elves accidentally gave Santa the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette. I was aware that these blushes were pretty universally loved, and once I had it in my greedy little hands, I just couldn't part with it. Like the first palette, the middle shade, Incandescent Electra, is exclusive. The most interesting shade for me, though is Mood Exposure, a dusty plum mixed with the powder shade Mood Light. It gives my cheeks the most perfect, luminous color and the application seems to be pretty much foolproof.

I highly recommend either of these palettes, if you can snag them. The packaging is pretty damn fly, too, which shouldn't matter, but we all know it does. They're a pretty penny, but they've been a standout addition to my makeup collection.

Drugstore Favorites

I love makeup, as if that weren't already abundantly clear. In the past two years, I have truly come to embrace it all, from high to low. In that spirit, I thought I'd share some of my favorite items from the drugstore.

L'Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara first appeared on my radar after it's UK release. The volume I saw from this product instantly captivated me. My lashes, generally speaking, are quite full and long, so if I'm going to wear mascara, it had better make it look like I'm wearing fakes there's so much volume. This hits the nail right on the head. It's a really wet formula, which I love, though after it's been open a couple of months and dries out a bit it can be easier to layer. Since I'm usually a one-and-done girl when it comes to mascara, I prefer it brand spanking new, but I still love love love it. You're looking at my next tube of it up there, as I've used it so much in the past three months that I'm almost out. Unheard of for me!

L'Oreal Lineur Intense Eyeliner in Black Mica is the best liquid eyeliner I've ever used. I've had this since longer than you're supposed to use eyeliner for and it's still not done! A totally awesome amount of product. The felt tip is super easy to work with, and I love that the formula dries down so quickly. This is the first liner I've tried that let's me do a true, clean cat-eye. The color is also pretty damn perfect, as black as I could ask for from the drugstore and dries down to a nearly-matte finish.

Milani Baked Powder Blush in 05 Luminoso is a cult favorite. I know everyone talks about this shade, but it really blows most other blushes out of the water. It has a beautiful, buildable texture with just a slight hint of shimmer in a peachy pink that instantly brightens up my face. On the occasions when I've stopped sweating long enough to actually wear makeup this summer, I reach for this over all others.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in 25 Bad to the Bronze fills that essential nook in my collection when I just want to sweep on some eyeshadow and take off (and when I say "want," I mean when I have slept so late that I barely have time to do that, let alone a full face). It's a true bronze that you can just blend out with your finger to give the illusion of carefully done eye makeup, and it lasts all damn day. I. Love. It.

NYX Butter Gloss in 05 Crème Brûlée and 07 Tiramisu take turns on my lips, with the former taking the warmer months and the slightly darker latter shade owning the cooler climes of winter. They just have the most lovely texture, and a pleasant vanilla scent that avoids being cloying in any way. I always have one of the two of these in my bag for the moments when I need some natural-looking oomph.

Swatching Fun

With a trip for my little sister's graduation (WOAH) rushing toward me, for once I decided to be proactive about what makeup I'll be bringing with. I realized that I didn't actually know exactly how a shockingly large portion of my collection would look, so I got a little carried away with the swatching.

The only thing you can't tell in this picture is that I actually swatched highlighter all the way up to my upper arm! Doing this definitely helped me make the face chest for the looks I want to wear next weekend and with what outfits.

Knowing me, I'll probably still manage to throw in a few extra bits as I'm running out the door, but it sure feels good to be organized for once!

MAC Pro Palette for Blush and Eyeshadow

This Christmas, one of my beloved cousins gifted me something that approximately blew my mind: a MAC Pro Palette with fifteen eyeshadows and six blushes, as well as three new brushes, including the fabled 217, after which I have lusted incessantly for the past three years.  Since we're into April now, I can share with you my favorites from my new collection (sorry if I faint from giddiness).

This is the real life awesomeness...

...and these are some handy charts I made on MAC's website so I don't have to keep pulling the pans out to remind me what's what.

You'll notice there's a blank space in each one, which is because the colors available online don't always match up with what's in stock at the store. Still, this is handy enough. The missing eyeshadow is Brown Down, and the missing blush is Pinch O'Peach. I did each chart based on how they're arranged with the hinge facing up, FYI.

As you can see, the colors look TOTALLY different in real life than they do online.  That's about as strong a recommendation I can give for doing first time makeup shopping in person.  No way would you think Expensive Pink looks anything like it actually does based on the website color, and the blushes?  Fuhggedahboutit.

I'm sure you can tell that some shades are more loved than others, though they are all beautiful and have pretty uniformly great texture and payoff.  My only disappointment would be Blackberry, which seems like it would have some nice purple/red tones to it, but mostly reads brown on me.  If I had to pick three faves, Twinks, Amber Lights, and Contrast beat the others by a nose.  Twinks is a maroon shimmer that's been serving me well as a crease color, as its warmth and subtle shimmer go beautifully with a wide range of colors.  Amber Lights is a bronze-gold shimmer that really packs a punch as an all over lid color for a night out, and provides a nice accent on the lower lid when you want to keep it more toned down.  Contrast is a satin navy that reads a little purple in the pan, but goes on straight up traditional pea-coat on the eyes; its awesome depth goes great in the crease and it also makes a fab eyeliner when applied wet for something just a little different than traditional black or brown.

Where the blushes are concerned, the variety of finishes MAC offers in their powder blushes gives a crazy number of options in application.  Hands down Blush All Day gallops past the finish line as my go to in this palette.  It's a dusty rose that leans quite a bit browner than I'm used to, but I love that it gets me out of my comfort zone.  I reach for it most often when I'm having a natural makeup day, as it suits my skin tone in a way that just makes me look healthy. (Side note: Temptalia hated this, which just goes to show that sometimes you won't know if you like something until you try it for yourself.)

Now for the brushes!  In addition to the overwhelming color boost my collection received, I added three more brushes: 129 Powder/Blush Brush, 217 Blending Brush, and 219 Pencil Brush.  Though the 129 does a fairly good job picking up color and has a great shape for easy blush application, I find the texture of it really rough.  It feels like it's scratching my face every time I use it, in addition to which it seems to have some difficulty maintaining it's shape after a wash.  The 217, on the other hand, is everything I've ever dreamed of and more. It's the perfect shape for blending out your crease, but I most like it for softening out the edges of your shadow so that nary a harsh line mars your look.  Add in absurd softness and it's basically the perfect eye brush.  Last but not least, the 219 makes packing a dark color into the corner easier than a hooker at Mardi Gras; it's also great for a quick smudge of color beneath the lower outer lashline when you've got to do your nighttime makeup in a hurry.  I actually have a Special Edition travel size of this brush that I got in a set an alarmingly long time ago, but I find the longer handle makes it mush simpler to use, so I'm sold on the full-size.

Phew!  That about wraps it up, I hope you enjoyed this peek into my newly enlarged color collection.  If you have questions about any of the other shades, please leave a comment on the post and I'll be happy to give you an answer.

Happy Monday!

NARS Insider Private Sale: Lose Yourself Gift Set

Rounding out the trio of goodies is a trio in and of itself, the Lose Yourself Gift Set.  It comes with a miniature lip gloss in Angelika, and a blush-bronzer duo palette containing Angelika blush and... Laguna bronzer!

I am so pleased to have gotten my greedy little mitts on some of this bronzer, as I've heard raves about it, but have been too afraid to take the plunge (especially considering I still have half a pan of my go to bronzer, Bobbi Brown in Golden Light).  Unfortunately, I have yet to try it on my face, as I've been going sans makeup in the wake of an unfortunate reaction to some waxing from the other day.  It's almost cleared up, though, thanks in no small part to Lush's Mask of Magnaminty (which I'll talk about later), so I should get to give Laguna a stab soon.  As you can see, it's a warm brown with very little orange in it, the texture is silky, and it seems to be quite buildable.

In terms of the Angelikas, the lip gloss looks especially fun for a quick dash of color.  I love a bright pink!  You can't tell from this picture, but it's got a very slight shimmer in it, as well, which is a must for summer, IMO.  The blush is a somewhat subdued version of the lip product, with pretty large bits of glitter in it, but I have yet to see how those stick around throughout the day.  I anticipate it as an excellent transitional blush between day and night, catching the soft summer sunset on the apples of my cheeks.  I think this set is a winner!  I'm even more pleased with it in person than I was when I saw it online.

I hope you are all having the most wonderful Thursday!  What do you think your go to lip product will be in the coming months?

NARS Insider Private Sale: Enchanted

Here, we have a really lovely, totally illuminating cream blush that I snagged during the sale.

Called Enchanted I knew I had to have it.  In the palette, as you can see, it looks like a warm light peach, but on my skin it softens to a pale, barely there glow.  I wouldn't call this an impact player, but it does give my complexion a certain lightness that I'm really loving.  It definitely suits minimal makeup days where you want to look sophisticated without looking "done."  I really like NARS's cream blush formula, it stays put but moves around easily during application so you can get it exactly right.  In terms of lasting power, it's not top of the heap, I'd say 3-4 hours before a touch up is needed, but the buildup is nice and doesn't get cakey or anything.

With a tan, I think this is going to be a definite daytime summer player for me, edging out both NARS Penny Lane Cream Blush and Stila Convertible Color Gerbera.  What do you use to get a simple, sophisticated look in the summer?

Trend Alert: Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera

Guys, you're right, I totally gave in.

In my travels this week, I stumbled upon a store that still had Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera in stock.  This shade in particular seems to be a bit of an obsession in the beauty world at the moment, and I seized the opportunity to give it a try.  On me, the color is a bit too chalky to work as lipwear, but it is the perfect blush shade, giving my face a nice, healthy glow.  The texture is slightly heavier than you would normally get out of a cream blush, but that's because of it's dual nature.  It blends exceptionally well, and it comes in a cute compact that pretty accurately reflects the color inside.

All in all, I see this being a summertime staple, as it adds a nice freshness to any look and it's easy to apply.  Bonus: the mirror inside doesn't suck!  That's a win for everyone.

Are you switching to cream blushes for the summer?

Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera ($25) available online at sephora.com, stilacosmetics.com, and ulta.com and available in store at Sephora and Ulta.