NAKED2 Palette Back in Stock on urbandecay.com!

Hurry over there guys if you want your NAKED2 palette! I got my order in ;-)

Look, it's MBB's Karen! <3 her!

DUPE SMACKDOWN #5: DIOR AURORA

Dior Aurora (Full name: Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora 001) is a gorgeous, sold-out, limited-edition satin-finish peachy bronzer from Dior's Spring 2011 collection.  Many of my favorite beauty bloggers have expressed that they've hit pan on theirs recently.  I often wind up disappointed when I spend more than $40 on a product, but I don't regret a thing about Dior Aurora (it was one of my September Favorites!).  It's the perfect no-brainer cheek color. 
I'm not sure if there are any readers out there who missed their chance to get this one, but just in case you were hoping for an affordable dupe, it just so happens I've lucked into TWO of them!
Honorable mentions: NYX Blush in Terra Cotta is a very similar peachy bronze, except it is an absolute shimmer bomb.  NYC Bronzing Powder in Sunny $2.99, is a matte bronzer of a similar intensity, but completely lacks the peach of Aurora.

Dupe Contestant #1 is Gold Coast, a blush in the Stila Loves Roxy Palette $14, LE but still available.  It's the top blush in the palette.

Dupe Contestant #2 is Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in 60 Coffee Cake (cute name, right?).  This is being discontinued, which is how I happened upon it; I saw it on clearance and when I got it home and tried it on my cheeks I found its glow really familiar! Retail price is about $7.49, but check your local drugstore to see if they've got it on clearance (I got mine for $4.40 at Meijer).

Both of these look more shimmery than Aurora in the swatches, but their shimmer blends away to leave more of a satin finish that more closely resembles Aurora.

In natural light (shade), left to right: Dior Aurora, Maybelline Coffee Cake, Stila Gold Coast

In natural light/artificial light mix

In warm artificial light

This Dupe Smackdown is a little different from the previous four.  I'm not really seeking a "Winner" this time.  Dior Aurora is a long-gone limited-edition product that I think is just fantastic enough to make me want to hunt down a similar color to get the same glowy-effect on days I can't be bothered to apply several different products.  Both Stila Gold Coast Blush and Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Coffee Cake satisfy this desire!  I did the classic test of applying Dior Aurora to one cheek, and it's potential dupe to the other, and found that both of these look and wear just as well.

Dior Aurora is on my right cheek, and Stila Gold Coast is on my left

FOTD: Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer in Medium, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 4.75 (a little too light), Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles in 60 Brightener (the pink one), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Silk Eyeshadow in 6 Khaki Pulse, Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black, MAC Hue Lipstick
Betsey Johnson Earrings
Express Sweater

Someone wanted to see how this top looks on me, so here you go!

Haha, obligatory office bathroom picture!

EOTD: Holiday Sunset Reject

I've been testing out some of the looks you guys have suggested in my giveaway post, and expanding on them as well.  I like this one enough to include it as an EOTD but I think it's a little over-the-top for the event.

Oops! How'd that mascara clumpy get by?

Tip: Gold, Purple, and Red are all colors that really make green eyes pop :)

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Greed all over, Yellow-gold shade from Sleek Sunset Palette (right) on inner upper and lower lids, Red from Sleek Sunset Palette as a dot on lid, Purple from Sleek Original Palette (left) on outer-v, crease, and outer lower lashline, Matte Black from Sleek Original Palette blended over the purple to darken crease. Wet n Wild single eyeshadow in Brulee on browbone and blending out the dark crease colors. Smashbox black eye liner (not pictured) on upper lashline and lower waterline. L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara on upper and lower lashes (see the little clumpy?)

Two Stila 2011 BCA Palettes: Swatches & Photos

On this sunny Sunday afternoon, I thought the light was right to finally bring you swatches and photos of the two Stila BCA Palettes for Breast Cancer Awareness month in 2011.
Some of my favorite bloggers did a collaboration series of pink FOTDs that I think would be amazing for you to check out and be inspired by!
Ebru
Kayla
Jessica
Tiffany
Danielle

If I've missed anyone from this wonderful series, my apologies! Please let me know below in comments.

As you definitely know if you've been reading my blog for a couple of months, I love to collect the Stila Travel Girl Palettes.  Several were released this year, including two promoting Breast Cancer Awareness.  These both include a face chart look and a mirror like the other palettes released this year.

 I believe one is an Ulta exclusive: empowered in pink.  It is a set of three matte, neutral purples with a sparkly dark purple, and two light-to-medium pink blushes (one matte and the other with some shimmer).  I was surprised when I swatched them at how purple these shades all became; as you can see from the palette photos the shadows appear to be more putty-colored.  These colors should work for both warm and cool skintones.  Purple is a color known to complement all eye colors as well.  This palette is certainly universally flattering!

Eyeshadows, clockwise from top left: believe, strength, courage, support
Middle cheek color: pink, Bottom cheek color: ribbon (it's no illusion, pink is the matte version of nearly the same shade in shimmer, ribbon!)

Ribbon is the far right blush color swatched

The other, positive and pretty, is available from stilacosmetics.com or sephora.com.  It has an ivory with a tiny bit of silver sparkle (great highlight color), a pink-ivory matte shade which would make a great blending color, a super-pigmented and unique salmon color with subtle sparkles, and another super-pigmented cranberry color with subtle sparkles.  The salmon and cranberry were the most pigmented of all the BCA palettes eyeshadows.  The eyeshadows in positive and pretty, unlike empowered in pink, are true-to-pan.  I think because of the two ivory tones, this palette is going to be more useful for those with light to medium complexions.  I think it also leans more warm.

Sorry this photo is a little dark.
Eyeshadows clockwise from top left: gift, passion, beauty, positive
Middle cheek color: pretty, Bottom cheek color: empower

See how gorgeous that salmon color ("positive") is?

The blushes between these two palettes are rather similar, except for the darker of the positive and pretty palette ("empower") is slightly deeper and more plummy.  The eyeshadows and blushes kick up a lot of powder, unfortunately, but the color is easy to build up and the quality is otherwise there so I can ignore this one negative mark.

Even if you don't collect the Stila Palettes I think these are excellent.  The value is great ($14), I love that they are about BCA and give some percentage for charity (I'm sorry I don't know how much).  The pigmentation is strong (though not up to par with Stila's core line) and the color combinations are both well-thought-out and wearable.  Please pick these up and consider doing a BCA post of your own.  You won't regret it if you read the series mentioned above by those beautiful bloggers and think about donating to this cause!

Matte Monday

I've been neglecting my soft, velvety Too Faced Matte Eye Palette, so I thought I'd pull her out for an EOTD (plus, I like the alliteration in the title :-P). Bonus: I paired the look with a slick of MAC Hue, and the husband actually told me (unsolicited) he really likes my lipcolor today! Aw, shucks ^.~

Method: TFSI, followed by Chinchilla (matte mid-brown) patted on entire lid.  I then blended Pebbles (matte mid-gray) onto the outer 1/3 of lid and into my crease.  I brushed the matte off-white shade Velveteen Bunny just under my brows and blended the crease color down with Tufted Suede (matte shadow just slightly deeper than my skintone, perhaps NC30-35).  I lined my upper lashline and outer 1/3 of the lower lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Stray Dog (a silvered taupe).  Lower lashes were coated with Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black, and upper lashes were curled with Shu Uemura curler (got mine at iMomoko.com) and coated with several layers of L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara.

EOTD: Subtle Morning Sunrise with Stila loves Roxy (and a bonus quickie-review)

Hey'all! Quick EOTD to show the Stila loves Roxy palette on my eyes.  I was surprised that the peaches looked so similar on and more pigmented than my swatches suggested.  I started this EOTD with the face chart instructions, which just wound up being a waste because the peaches were muddled on my lids. I ought to have just tried the gradient look.  I used the shade "water" on my lower lashline, but I did find it a bit too sheer.  In person the effect is definitely a watercolor makeup look, but a lot of the pictures I took just made it appear to be blue under-eye circles!  This palette can't just be slapped on in the morning (in contrast, I wore Love and Empower yesterday, which looked just fine applied quickly and to face-chart specifications).
I'll do a redo-run with this palette tomorrow and I'm sure it will turn out better!

Winning: L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara. Like the Roxy palette, it also takes a lot of care with application (to avoid clumping), but it is super-black and volumizes quite well - I just wish it had held my curl. Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black  =  <3 ('nuff said!).

FAIL: Benefit Realness of Concealness Kit. First of all, it doesn't have a decent spot concealer, just Boi-ing, which I already see sliding off and creasing under my eyes three hours after application.  Ooh La Lift did diminish puffiness a little bit but I already have eye cream, moisturizer, foundation and concealer to put on, so why would I want to pack on yet another product?  High Beam is sooo inferior to Girl Meets Pearl (which I love). There is no discernable highlight on my cheekbones where I dabbed it. Lemon aid doesn't do anything to color correct on me (probably because I'm already kinda yellow) and is making my shadow crease. The Lip Plump is not bad, but to be honest I enjoy reapplying lippie. I would totally return this kit if I didn't get it as a GWP. End Rant/Bonus Review.

REVIEW: Three Stila Travel Girl Palettes for Autumn/Winter 2011

Over the past couple of months, I've been collecting the non-Beach Girl Stila Travel Girl Palettes.  Not including the two for BCA, I have:
love and empower (The Help movie tie-in)
stila loves ROXY (presumably for the Fashion Week show)
find your magic (Holiday 2011)

Love and Empower retailed at $29 ($75 value, they claim) in a set with Lip Glaze in Apricot (not pictured here).  Stila Loves Roxy and Find Your Magic are both the regular price of these palettes at $14 each.

love and empower shades (clockwise from top left): love, empower cherish, dignity
Cheek Colors (from top): hope cheek color, joy bronzing powder

Love is a nice brow highlight in the vein of MAC Brule; empower is a subtle golden beige; cherish is a sparkly, cool brown that I think would make a better crease shade blended with love, rather than as liner as the face chart suggests; dignity is a really lovely rose color similar to the one in NARS Grand Palais duo.

Stila loves Roxy shades (clockwise from top left): beach, bikini, water, bronzed
Cheek Colors (from top): gold coast cheek color, swim bronzing powder

The Stila Loves Roxy palette shades are different from the Love and Empower palette shades because they are a gradient of peaches capped off with a cool, almost purpley blue.
I personally wouldn't follow the recommendation of the face chart and try to line my upper lashline with water, the cool blue shade.  Though it's the most aptly named of the four shadows, it's got some of actual water's transparency and it just won't work as liner.  I think it would be better used to create a subtle blue smokey eye, or along the lower lash line with a gradient peach look up top using beach, bikini, and bronzed (more like "peached!").  I think this palette wouldn't show up on a girl with a tan, which is odd.  I bet it would look really lovely on girls with fair or translucent skin.

find your magic shades (clockwise from top left): shine, twinkle, starry, magic
Cheek Colors (from top): love cheek color, shimmer bronzing powder

The shadow called "magic" in this palette, is anything but: I think it may be the biggest dud of all the palettes released this year!  It basically just doesn't show up at all.  The other three cool shades (shine, an icy white-lavender; twinkle, a charcoal blue; starry, an ashy plum) aren't exactly my cup of tea but I bet this would look great on dark-haired, cool-toned ladies with brown eyes.  On me these shades look a bit sickly or disappear, but I think a deep-skinned woman might see magic as a highlight/blending color and the ashen shades could make an unexpected-color smokey eye.

Note: all swatches of eye shadows in this post over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

The value and quality of these is akin to the rest of the Stila Travel Girl Beach Palettes of Summer 2011.  I've done looks with some of the Beach palettes here, here, and here. 
The products all kick up quite a bit of powder and are a little dry, but smooth and fairly pigmented for what amounts to a "bargain price" for the Stila brand.  This is not a luxury experience, but they are superior to several similarly-priced eyeshadows and blushers from the likes of Maybelline (not eye studio), Revlon, or CoverGirl.  Lasting power is solid over a primer.

I swatched the blushes over Boscia BB Cream:

Left to Right: Love and Empower palette hope & joy; Stila Loves Roxy palette gold coast & swim; Find Your Magic palette love & shimmer. Gold Coast and Love are sparkliest.

I don't think joy or shimmer are bronzers at all! Swim might be, if you like your bronzers orange!

Joy is more of a highlighter or light blush, Gold Coast is more of a shimmery gold bronzer than a blush, and Shimmer is most definitely a highlighter.
Misleading product descriptions aside, I think these are all lovely, blendable colors with no repeats!

The packaging of these is very cute, in my opinion.  It's not over-the-top adorable or childish.  Stila girls look a little bit like fashion sketches.
I don't think these are must-haves by any stretch, but it's fun to collect them and the colors are well-coordinated and quite wearable!  If you like no-brainer looks (as I do at 6AM before work) these are handy and I recommend them highly if you don't mind the compulsion to collect them all. You can't have just one!

It's Not Easy Being Acid-Green

This is my second attempt to get any decent pictures of my EOTD:
Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Cakeshop Shadestick (tones down the lime shadow slightly)
CoverGirl Lime Alive One-kit Eye Enhancer Eye Shadow
Stila Daydream Palette Trance and Kitten Eyeshadows (Trance deepening the crease, Kitten blending it out)
Kat Von D Autograph Eye Liner in Proud Peacock
Stila Kohl Eye Liner in Topaz on waterline
Rimmel Day 2 Night Mascara (clumped horribly on my right eye, started flaking... do not like)
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Lipstick is Revlon Colorburst in Carnation

The lighting in every photo gave me Kermit face :-(

UPDATE: Attempt #3. I love sunlight!

Lesson learned? Save the Barbie-pink lipstick and acid-bright eyeshadow for sunny days!