Things I'm Currently Loving & Reworking My MAC Pro Palette!

I didn't get around to posting my July favorites, but I did want to give a few props to some products I'm loving at the moment.

Nivea Touch of Smoothness Moisturizing Body Wash: This stuff is body wash gold. My skin has been feeling a little sun-beaten for the past few weeks and I wanted a body wash that had a lotion consistency. This stuff really hydrates my skin and leaves it feeling silky. It also smells like tea roses; it's a softly romantic smell that reminds me of late summer gardens.

Victoria's Secret Very Sexy For Her: This perfume is one of my favorites for late summer because its spicy and bold. It's a floral Oriental scent that features scents of pepper, white orchid, and musk (among others). I like wearing this on date nights (the husband likes when I wear this, too ;) ) because the smell makes me feel sexy and a just little bit dangerous. Sadly my little bottle is almost empty. It looks like a new bottle is going on my Christmas list this year!

Stila In The Light Palette: I can't rave enough about this palette. So many gorgeous and useable colors in one place. I've been reaching for this almost everyday since I bought it. I especially love combining Sunset and Gilded Gold for a really bold bronze-burgundy smokey eye.

L'Oreal Color Riche Lipstick in Gilded Gold: In general I'm much more a lipgloss kind of girl, but this soft nude with rose and gold undertones really wakes up a simple face. It's not so overpowering that I feel like my lips are jutting out of my face when I wear it, but I do feel a bit more polished with just a quick slick of this and a winged eye.

Essence of Beauty Smokey Wide Dual-Ended Brush: I saw this brush in one of Lollipop26's tutorials (BTW, be sure to check out her new blog. Materialistic love!) and debated purchasing it for so long. It just looks really wide and frightening for those of us with hooded eyes and little visible eyelid. Eventually I bit the bullet and picked it up and it's been love ever since. It's really easy to use, fantastic at blending shadows, and the smaller brush is really great for lining and smudging. Highly recommended if you're in the market for a new brush :)

Big, bold beaded jewelry:

Admittedly I'm a bit of a snot when it comes to jewelry. I usually like fine jewelry (read: expensive), but lately I've been wearing a lot of cheap earrings. Maybe it's just my way of embracing the summer season but honestly, the bigger, cheaper,  and tackier the earrings, the more I love them!

Project 10 Pan Update: So far two bottles have been emptied and trashed. I finished off my John Frieda Root Awakening shampoo and used up the last of a Neutrogena face wash/mask. Next up is the previously mentioned Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lipgloss. That thing's got a shelf life of about a week before it finally meets its end.

I've also been trying to wheedle down the contents of my makeup bag. Sometime ago I switched my MAC shadows from the 15-Pan Pro Palette to the smaller 4-Pan palettes. I thought I'd enjoy the smaller containers and it would make it easier on me to have smaller palettes instead of one big one. I finally got annoyed by having to switch between palettes when doing my makeup and I decided to transfer them all back to the 15-pan palette. The pan, however, underwent a little tweaking.

I know the palettes can be manipulated to hold more than 15 shadows, and so I decided to pop the tray out of the container to allow for more room. If this is something you're also interested in doing, the super-easy how-to steps are below!

1. Lift the tray so that you can see the clips that hold it to the palette body.

2. Using a butter knife, slide along the edges of the tray, gently twisting the butter knife to "pop" the clips out of place. This is really easy to do so don't worry about breaking the tabs or palette body.

3. Lift the tray out and set aside (not sure if the tray component will count for MAC's "Back To MAC" program, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?)

4. The magnetic bottom will hold the shadow pans, and voila! Now you have more room for shadows. Rumor is you can fit about 22 MAC shadow pans if you go this route. (Even better: MAC shadow pans are only $11, as opposed to the $14.50 you pay for the shadow compact!)

What are your current favorites? Leave some recommendations in the comments so I can check out the products you're loving!

Sephora Goodies and Banana Republic Shopping Haul

The nature of this post is nothing more than shameless excitement over materialistic consumerism.

I went shopping!

Recently my husband and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary, and as part of my gift, he gave me a Sephora gift card. I've been dying for some new eyeshadows but I've been reluctant to purchase any because I just recently finished graduate school and I'm very aware of my finances.

I had originally intended to get the Urban Decay Naked Palette, but seeing as it is perpetually sold out (and I don't have enough patience to order it online), that plan was a bust. Fortunately my aisle wandering paid off and I discovered that Stila also makes a neutrals eyeshadow palette. After spending a few minutes playing with the Stila shadows and comparing them to the tester Naked Palette, I decided both were amazing but the colors in the Stila palette were calling my name (except for UD "Toasted"; that shade WILL BE MINE ASAP).

I also grabbed a NARS shadow duo in Kuala Lumpur, partly because I just loved the name!

Top row (L to R): Bare, Kitten, Bliss, Sunset, Sandstone

Bottom row (L to R): Champagne, Gilded Gold, Luster, Night Sky, Ebony

(The palette also came with a waterproof Smudge Stick eyeliner in Damsel (a deep black-brown), and a MUA Look Book that shows you how to create different looks).

The shadows are so buttery and smooth and apply like a dream. They range from highly pigmented (Kitten, Champagne, Sunset, and Night Sky) to very subtle and smokey (Sandstone, Ebony, and Luster).

(With flash)

(Natural Light)

NARS Kuala Lumpur shadow duo

Kuala Lumpur is my first NARS purchase, and I have to admit I'm a little obsessed with it. The shadow duo was part of the Spring '10 collection and I believe it was supposed to be limited edition (?). The reviews on this palette are mixed because when swatched dry the color payoff is very soft. When dry, it creates a soft gold-peachy-pink smokey eye. When wet, however, the color payoff is much more intense.

(Swatched wet in both photos)

The berry tones in the burgundy shadow are very apparent, and the salmon and gold undertones of the lighter shadow are unmistakable. The shadows themselves are a bit chalky and unusual in texture when dry, but the colors are so darn pretty and I don't care. The duo is much easier to use when wet; the shadows are silky and slightly oily so they spread wonderfully.

I also picked up a few items from Banana Republic. My  professional wardrobe was in desperate need of revamping, and I purposefully picked out items that can transition nicely from work to play. It also helped that Banana Republic is having one of its insane sales right now, and thanks to a handy dandy gift card, I only paid $6 for everything I picked up!

First up is a cute little t-shirt. The fabric is super soft, clingy, and stretchy, so it'll look great under a cardigan for work, or on its own with a cute skirt or pants for a night out. The design is unusual in that it isn't your basic cotton t-shirt. The fabric is iridescent and quite sparkly without being obnoxious. It's a neutral taupe color with a lilac-hued tulle trim. So comfy!

(Original price: $35. Sale price: $21)

Next is a silky olive green-grey dress top. There are ruffles and draping all over the place with this shirt, but somehow it works. It looks lovely across the shoulders and flatters my waist like nothing! This is my favorite of my purchases. 

(Originally price: $45. Sale price: $27).

I also picked up a sweet little chartreuse top with a ruffled neckline and shoulders. It hits just below the waist and screams "summer!" to me.

(Original Price: $20. Sale price: $13)

And finally, I fell in love with this grey wrap dress. It features 3/4 sleeves and comes to my knees. It's work appropriate with a tank underneath, and fun and flirty for a night on the town with some heels.

(Original price: $36 (on sale). Sale price (w/ additional 40% off): $21).

I haven't gone shopping in quite some time, so I really enjoyed this little haul (w/ a special "Thank You!" to my wonderful husband for spoiling me). Of course, now it means I should (in theory) clean out some of the products in my makeup bag and closet to make way for the new stuff. But I can get to that later ;)

Are you a fan of Stila or Nars? Where do you shop for clothing (work or fun?). How often do you clean out your makeup products or closets?

FOTD & Summer Curls: Day II

This is what my hair looked like when I woke up this morning. The curls I have cultivated yesterday were still hanging around, just a little limp. If this isn't a testament to the amazingness of my Argan oil/Herbal Essences hair mix then I am just having a really darn good hair day...

After doing my makeup, I gave my curls a small boost with a nice water scrunching, and they came right back in full force. I actually think they're a bit more springy than they were yesterday. It might be 100 damn degrees out, but I'm feeling very cool with my awesome hair right now!

For my makeup, I was in the mood for some brown and taupe shadows today so I busted out my favorite MAC shadow, Satin Taupe, which is a gorgeous grey-brown mix with silver undertones. I applied that all over the lid and under the bottom lashes, and then used a round shadow brush to apply the lighter brown shade from my Clinique Pink Chocolate quad. Using window wiper motions, I applied a heavy amount of the brown into the crease and up to just under my browns. In the corners, I dabbed some of CG's Pink Chiffon shadow to open the eye up.

I skipped the liner on the top lashes and lined my waterlines with a heavy black liner, which I topped off with a few coats of L'Oreal's Voluminous Carbon Black mascara. The finished look was a subtle but sexy neutral smokey eye that was surprisingly wearable for the middle of the day.

The key to keeping this look from being too heavy for daytime is to really blend the shadows together well (even bringing them up above your natural crease and towards the eyebrows). In my opinion, a round shadow brush is an essential in anyone's makeup bag. I personally hate when there is a visible end to someone's eyeshadow. Blending well really polishes off a look, especially if someone is wearing an eyeshadow that isn't a neutral color. For example, you don't want an obvious line between your skin color and the lid color.

This is not a hot look.

Image Source

So make sure you always blend!

I then dusted some slight contouring bronzer into the hollows of my cheeks, which can be found by making your closest approximation to the oh so lovely face below. Just find the natural line of your cheeks to see where bronzer should be applied. 

Pro-tip: you can also find the natural outline of your face by holding a brush horizontally to the sides of your cheek. Angle the brush until it sits just below your cheekbones and the apples of your cheek; this is the line you're looking for to contour.

And that was it! Super simple and perfect for summer. The curls demanded something beachy and sexy, and I listened.

And finally, one more pair of earrings!

Again, a Target purchase, but so fun and perfect for the season. Coral colored seashells in obnoxiously big silver hoops. This is my kind of tacky! FYI, these cost less than $5. I don't expect them to last until September ;)

Frizz-Free Curls: The Perfect Summer Hair

It's been obnoxiously hot here in Boston lately, and despite my recent purchase of the world's cutest mini-hairdryer, I just can't imagine blasting hot air at my head right now. The sane (and heat-accommodating) thing to do right now is to just let my hair air-dry, and work with the resulting mass of curls.

I want to give my curls structure so they don't frizz all over the place in the humidity. To achieve this I decided to mix my new Argan Magic Nourishing Hair Cream with my trusty Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse (I love this stuff; it totally defines my curls while still taming them!).

While my hair was still wet, I smoothed the Argan Magic cream from roots to tips, then immediately applied the Herbal Essences mousse, scrunching up my hair like it was 1988.

My hair sucked up the oils in the hair cream, leaving it soft and silky. It was hard to judge the level of frizz while the mousse was still drying, though. At first my hair was super crunchy in that "too much mousse" kind of way, but I ran my fingers through my hair, loosening the curls. The Argan oils took over though and after about an hour, there was no crunchy hair to be touched. My hair was mostly frizzless, super soft, shiny, bouncy, and MEGA-curly.

So will this be my new summer do? Um, YES! It's so easy to do, and hours later it looks exactly the same.  If you're trying to get a similar style, I can definitely recommend picking up some curling products and some Argan Magic to help you on your way :)

Today's FOTD was super simple, as I really wanted the hair to be the star of the show today. I slapped on a little bit of concealer to hide a few spots, and after that left the rest of my skin free from foundation to breathe. I applied a light touch of hot pink blush to the apples of the cheeks and complimented the color with Revlon's Pink in the Afternoon (still loving this color!). The eyes were a simple duo of pink-champagne and gold shadows.

And lastly, meet my newest earring obsession:

I spotted these little lovelies in Target the other day and couldn't resist bringing them home with me. The beads look like Chalcedony, one of my favorite gems. They have a slight faceted sparkle to then, they look great against my dark hair, and best of all they're super light. I'm wearing them now and I can't even feel them! Best of all, the pale-blue/grey color mixes in wonderfully with my wardrobe. Keepers, people, keepers. All for the low, low price of $7.

So....

Summer hair? Check. Summer makeup? Check. Summer earrings? Check. We're all good here, folks! :)

How do you keep your hair frizz-free? Do you have a go-to, anti-heat hair style that you stick to in the summer?