Naked 2 Urban Decay Palette review!

So, I finally broke down and purchased this palette: Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette. This is the second palette of this type, and as many people have written, the first one had more gold/neutrals, and these colors are cooler/neutrals. I have to say, the packaging is very nice. It's sturdy, has nice big mirror, and I didn't photograph it, but it comes with a pretty nice brush. It's double ended. One end is a flat eye shadow brush that pats the shadow into place and the other end is for blending.

Now, the colors! For the most part, this palette doesn't disappoint. I'll go in order from left to right. Unfortunately, the first color is the worst color in the palette. It's called Foxy. Foxy is a bright yellow that I'm sure is intended to be a base color...but it is like invisible dust. It really bugs me because the rest of the colors are SO great and this one just does NOT go on hardly at all, it's shocking. Half Baked is the next color, it's a nice shimmery, gold color that is very pigmented, typical quality shadow by Urban Decay, so very good. The next color over, Bootycall, is a goldy, pale, pink color. It's slightly shimmery and it's great for the inner corner of the eye, for highlighting the brow bone, etc. 

Chopper is the next color over, and it's a color I have in another palette, and I really like it. It's a nice shimmery, copper, brown that applies beautifully. The next color, Tease, is maybe my favorite color...no, second favorite. It's the only other matte color in the palette and it's just perfect as a base for your crease or if you want to do a more subtle crease. I like to put this in my crease, blend it and then go over it with a more dramatic color, but blending this first gives your dramatic color smokey edges. Good stuff. Snakebite and Suspect are very similar colors, one is slightly goldy and the other is more silvery brown. They're both lovely. 

Pistol, the next color over, is a gorgeous, deep, shimmery gray color and next to it is Verve which is a great, pigmented silver that can be used for your lid, the corners of your eye, etc. YDK is a gorgeous shimmery brown that I LOVE to use with Busted, the next color over. Busted is my favorite color because it is a cooler brown, but it also has some red and purple in it. It also applies gorgeous. Blackout is a matte black that is great. Every palette should have a matte black and a matte brown and this one does and they're both great.

This is a WONDERFUL palette, especially if you're into shimmery, neutral color. My ONLY complaint is that there are only 3 matte shades. For neutral eyes, matte colors are better, especially if we're calling this the "Naked" palette, BUT it's okay because the colors are great and so is the packaging. 

Make Up Forever HD foundation review!

Hello, my beautiful, flawless fans. It's been a big summer, what with the successful run of Bombshell Baby, trips to Disney World, etc, but now I'm back! I want to get started with a review of a product I started using during the run of Bombshell Baby! For the past few videos we made and the show I did at the Duplex, I used a really heavy, awful foundation by Max Factor that I thought would give me a lot of coverage...but it just felt awful on my skin and I couldn't stand it. SO, I walked into Sephora and they were having a special deal on the Make Up Forever HD Foundation. I got the foundation, the HD primer, and the amazing HD powder for $70. Normally, the foundation and powder alone would be $80, so throwing in the primer, which is normally $30, made it a great, great deal.

So I happily brought these new products to my dressing room. The primer is great, but I knew that because I had used it before. I applied the foundation and I was just instantly THRILLED with it. For a liquid foundation it feels so wonderful on the skin. It's easily blended (I use my Samanthan Chapman foundation brush) and the coverage is really amazing. I've been wearing it daily and using less product for a more natural look, but this foundation is easy to build on and was good for stage as well. Also, I look stunning in the pictures, so it was clearly working :)! If you use liquid foundation, I highly recommend this one. Here is the foundation in action...

Also wearing Yves Saint Laurent concealer, Ben Nye concealer, MUFE HD Powder, MAC Russian Red Lipstick, MAC Nylon eyeshadow, NYX brown shadow, Kat Von D Tattoo liquid liner, MUFE lower lashes, etc.

Various NARS products: review

Hello, my gorgeous, makeup applying fans. I don't know why, but I have a SERIOUS weakness for NARS. I don't know what it is. To be honest, it is nowhere close to my favorite brand, I am often disappointed by their eye shadows and it's overpriced...but I can't stop stocking up on NARS! I don't know if it's the sleep packaging?! Or maybe it's the names they choose...there's a blushes called "Deep Throat," "Orgasm," "Striptease," etc...do these names just make me feel so dirty in the best possible way? I don't know, but I have so much NARS in my makeup case.

I wrote a post a while back about how I'm often disappointed with their eye shadows. I find them chalky or impossible to work with. Their glitter eye shadows make no sense...they're like hard...and look like frozen ice cone...anyway...I DO like their lip and face products though. One of my favorites is a highlighter they sell called "Albatross." It's a pale white/yellow that I just find really flattering. It glows in the pan and on your face. I also got the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation which I haven't tried yet, but will review once I do.

I also got a BUNCH of different lip products. I am very into a nude lip and went a little nuts buying some nude lip products. I got 2 lipsticks. One is called "Promiscuous," which is just a sheer, shimmery, beige color. I would have preferred for it to be more pigmented, it's TOO sheer. Too bad because it looked promising in the store. "Honolulu Honey" is a similar color, but a matte finish and I actually really like this one. It has enough pigment, it's subtle and looks even better with the "Spring Break" gloss I got over it. I LOVE this gloss. It is PERFECT. I don't love gloss with big glitter particles in it. I prefer a slight shimmer and this is perfect because it's beige with a gold shimmer in it. LOVE! Highly recommend this product. This is part of their new "Larger Than Life" gloss line. It's just gorgeous. I also got the "Albatross" gloss, which I LOOOOVE as well! It's the same pale white/yellow color as the highlighter. I just love it, it might not be for everyone though.

I also got two of these "Velvet Matte Lip Pencils," one in "Belle de Jour," a nude and "Cruella," which is red. I don't know if I'm all about these jumbo lip pencils. I reviewed a NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil that I really liked (for a 4th of the price) that was very pigmented and blended well. Even though I love the color, the shimmery nude one just wasn't enough for me. The red one is fine too...I don't know, I wasn't thrilled with these at all, was mostly just curious. 

Makeup Review: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick

Hello, my gorgeous, bronzed beauties. It's summer, so I'm always wanting to get my bronze on! I went for this Bobbi Brown shimmer brick because it gets great reviews and has multiple uses. You can swipe your makeup brush through all the colors and get a shimmery bronze color, or you can use these colors separately as eye shadow. I normally don't go for Bobbi Brown because it just seems slightly more expensive than other brands I like more, but everyone talks about these.

I am sorry to say that I didn't find this that shimmery! I applied a LOT and I mostly got a browny, matte look...WEIRD! I even tried swiping my brush mostly on the lightest color to see if that would help...but no...the colors are actually lovely as eye shadow, but I was disappointed in the amount of color and shimmer. Maybe people like this because it's a more subtle shimmer and has a more natural finish? I don't know...if you call something a SHIMMER BRICK it should be REALLY SHIMMERY! Also, it's $40...at least this investment will last a while since I won't be using it much. 

Makeup Review: Watt's Up!

Hello, my gorgeous, glowing fans! I've made some really great purchases since I've returned to America, and I'm so excited to review this product. Watt's Up! is a highlighter/luminizer by Benefit. I had tried many of Benefits various highlighters before (High Beam, Girl Meets Pearl, Moon Beam, etc), and I was turned off by them because they come in a thin, note easily blend able liquid form. This is a creamy stick that applies super easy and is easily blended.

After playing around with it, I quickly learned that the smudger on the other end is useless and will wipe off not only the Watt's Up, but your foundation as well. I applied it on the top of my cheek bone, over foundation, and then blended it with my stippling brush for a beautiful glowy finish. The one downside of this product is that it's on the pricey side, $30. If you have REALLY oily skin, be sure to powder this a lot so it sets. 

Battle of the eye shadow primers!

Hello, gorgeous ones. There are many different brands of eye shadow primer and most of the ones I've tried are actually good, but here are my thoughts on a few. One of the most popular ones is the Urban Decay primer potion. It's probably the most popular and it's easy to understand why: It is packaged nicely, it applies easily and it comes in a few different colors. I honestly have nothing negative to say about it. It does the job. Another one I REALLY like is the TOO Faced Shadow Insurance. I find this one is a little more sticky when you apply it, so things REALLY meld with it and just stay put. Urban Decay's primer potion is sheerer, I find this to be more heavy duty.

I think those two are my favorites, but I have tried others. MAC Paint pots are popular, but I find that they are too oily to really do the job they're supposed to do most of the time. Also, I LOVE NYX Jumbo Pencils, but seeing people use them as the only eye shadow base/primer is weird to me because they definitely, definitely crease without a little help from another product. The NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow primer is also very good, but it's $5 more than the Urban Decay and $6 more than the TOO Faced, so...unless you just LOVE NARS, I'd go for the other two. Also, the Smashbox primer is okay as well, I just don't find it superior to the TOO Faced or Urban Decay and it's slightly more expensive. I hope you all prime your eyes and have sparkly eye shadow ALL NIGHT LONG :)!

TOO FACED Smokey Eye Palette

Hello, gorgeous, smokey eyed, beauties! Today I want to talk about another Too Faced palette: The Smokey Eye Palette. Like the Natural Eye Palette, this palette is SO usable for night time looks, for every day looks, it's just a product that is SO worth the money. The day colors are really gorgeous. "Firefly" is a beigy, silvery color. This is the only color that I wish applied a little better, but with primer and a few applications it's fine. "Cloves" is a terrific bronzy color. Too Faced does really good bronzy colors in general. "Up in Smoke" is the perfect, smokey, dark brown. I wet this color and use it as eyeliner every day. The Classic colors are also great. "White Lie" is a great silvery white color that applies very well. "Nice Ash" is a great silvery color, which also has the same sort of finish as Cloves, but silvery. "Smokin Hot" is a great matte black color that you can use in any look as liner, the crease, etc. The Fashion colors are great too. "In a Flash" is a shimmery silver that is very pigmented and applies great. "Smoking Jacket" is a gorgeous, gorgeous, purpley-navy color that looks amazing over a the matte black shadow and gives it an awesome texture. "Smolder" is a great matte, dark blue. This palette is just great, I highly recommend it! Check it out on Sephora!

Makeup Forever

Hello, my beautiful made up fans. Today I want to talk about Makeup Forever products I have used. Makeup Forever is a fabulous brand and most of their products are golden. The one downside is that I find that slightly more pricey than other brands I like more, but it still doesn't stop me from buying their stuff. I think their bestselling and most loved product is the High Definition Powder. It is $32, which is on the pricey side, but it really is wonderful. I like the MAC finishing powder almost as much and it's also $10 less. The Makeup Forever one is just great though. Another great Makeup Forever product is the eye shadows. They have amazing matte shades, gorgeous shimmers that aren't too shimmery, bright, pigmented colors, but again, they're just a LITTLE too expensive to be your number one choice. They also do amazing diamond shadows and glitters. The glitters are too expensive as well, at $14, but the diamond powders are honestly worth it. They are really special and gorgeous. I will talk about my trick to applying glitter and glitter powders at a later date. In the end, I really like this brand, I just wish everything was $2-5 cheaper. Do you have any Makeup Forever favorites? Let me know!

New Sephora.com!

I was very excited to see that Sephora.com changed its layout! Check it out!

Urban Decay Eye Shadows!

Hello, my beautiful fans!! Besides being passionate about acting and singing, I am also extremely into cosmetics. I would love to share with you all some of my favorite products and review new ones that I try out. To get things started I want to talk about one of my favorite eye shadow brands: Urban Decay. If you're looking for subtle, matte shades, I wouldn't recommend this brand to you (although they do make a few great matte shadows), if you're into sparkly, shimmery, pigmented eye shadows, these are the ones for you!

They come in a few different finishes. Some are shimmer and some have glitter particles in them. Even though the glitter shadows look fab, they can be messy, so I recommend applying them before you put on foundation so you can wipe away the fallout and don't have what a friend of mine calls "glitter face." Some of my favorite urban decay shades are: Sellout, Midnight Cowboy, Sin, Blunt, Flash, Vapor, and Midnight Cowgirl. They also have an array of palettes that you can buy with different mixtures of colors that are a very good deal for the amount of product you get! Check it out!