Palette Passion

Palette Passion by embellishedangel featuring a matte eye shadow

I have a pretty deep love for eye shadow palettes. I love the ease of a palette for traveling purposes. I love having several eye looks come from one stellar palette. Today I am rounding up THE four BEST neutral palettes in my humble opinion. Now you may ask, why would one need FOUR different neutral palettes? My gut reaction is to say, "Why not?" But the real answer is....you don't need four neutral palettes. One really great one will totally do the trick. These palettes all have similar shades and any one of them will offer you tons of eye look options.

 I will admit however that each of these palettes has its one little sweet spot that makes it different from the others. I do own all four and rotate them on a pretty regular basis. I firmly believe in subtle, neutral eye looks and I adore experimenting with each of these and even mixing them together. Each of these palettes are considered "high end" and do cost a pretty penny. However, the quality and staying power of each is not easily matched by a drugstore version. Be patient and wait for an Ulta or Sephora coupon and you'll be golden!  I'll share the unique features of each and link you to a great tutorial on how to create an eye look for each! 

1. Naked Palettes (Naked 1, Naked 2, Naked 3)

I personally only own the first version of this uber popular palette. My oldest daughter owns the Naked 2 and speaks highly of it was well. This is probably the ultimate neutral palette. Soft, creamy shadows in several matte and shimmer shades. The color payoff of each shadow is super and they blend perfectly. The names of the shadows are a riot too! Let me know if any of you have purchased the Naked 3 palette--I am hesitating as it has an overall rose tone to it and worry about its versatility! 

2. Too Faced Chocolate Bar (Get it here!)
Before I purchased this palette I got one of Too Faced's limited edition Christmas palettes called A Few of My Favorite Things. This palette was unbelievable and I became a huge fan of Too Faced instantly! I also have there Chocolate Soleil bronzer and use it religiously everyday for contouring. Too Faced believes in the antioxidant power of chocolate and incorporates it into many of their products. So...guess what? This palette is not only shaped like a chocolate bar but it SMELLS like chocolate. No lie! It is sooo yummy. On top of the chocolate goodness, the shadows are dreamy and creamy. The shimmer shades are not glittery at all and have a perfect iridescence to them that is hard to resist.



3. IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty (Get it HERE!)
This is a recent palette discovery of mine and I sought it out because I feel like other palettes never have enough matte shades. A really good palette should have at least 3-4 matte shades that can be used for your crease and blending. This palette is all MATTE with a twist. All 14 matte shades are silky and smooth and are perfect blended. The twist?! The palette comes with a pearl transforming shade that turns any of the matte shades into beautiful shimmer versions of themselves! Sweet! Video is a review of the palette--its pretty new so there are not a ton of tutorials yet. I will post one when I find a good one!



4. Lorac Pro (Get it HERE!)
This is a perfectly balanced palette. It has 8 matte shades and 8 shimmer shades. The shadows are extremely pigmented and go on so effortlessly. I love the gradation from light to dark and find this palette to be very versatile in creating looks. I find myself reaching for this palette whenever I want a simple, put together look.

Beauty Product Must Have!!

Just popping in to the blog this morning to share one of my FAVORITE beauty products of the past few months. I have been telling practically everyone I see face to face about this little thing and I suddenly thought...DUH....put this on the blog girl! So here I am.

A little background---I put my mascara on about an hour after I actually do the make-up on my eyes. Why? Well I have pretty serious allergies and my eyes can get irritated very quickly and become weepy. I'm not a huge fan of waterproof mascara so waiting to apply my mascara is a must. This often means however, that I am putting it on in the car or once I get to work. I USED to carry around a full size eyelash curler in in my purse make-up bag. Believe me, this was very cumbersome and annoying. I can't tell you how many times the little cushion thing-y (I have no idea what it is actually called!) would come off and get buried at the bottom of my bag. Enter my older sister and her birthday gift to me....the Laura Mercier portable eyelash curler!

This little beauty is the BEST eyelash curler I have ever used, not to mention how portable it is. It even comes with a spare rubber thing-y on the bottom. Genius! The whole contraption is only about an inch and a half tall! It takes a little bit of practice to get used to the mechanism but once you do it's like butta! 

Snag one for yourself HERE!

Thanks Janel!

My Beauty Must-Haves

We all have those beauty items that we use EVERY day. When they run out, we make a special trip to get more. We would miss them if they were gone. Life would not be the same if they were (gasp!) discontinued. Today I am going to share a short list of a few items that play vital roles in my daily beauty routine. These products are tried and true and I stand behind each one. We each have our own hair and skin care priorities and these products reflect my own. Take the best and leave the rest!

1. Kenra 25 hairspray
 I used to be a die hard Big & Sexy Spray and Play Harder fan. However, I was noticing some residue (flakiness) in my hair after a few uses and got a little turned off. (I only wash my hair every 3 days--yes--3) I switched to Kenra 25 about a year ago and have never looked back. This is not a hairspray for the faint of heart. It has a firm hold and feels firm as well. This works for me as I want my hair (especially curls) to stay all day.

2. EOS Lip Balm
These little cuties come in about 7-8 different flavors and they all rock (mint is my fave!). The first few uses you will notice your lips "shedding" a bit due to a bit of exfoliation from the product. Pretty much from there on out your lips will feel fantastic. The balms are organic and have no wax or paraben. I'll admit-they are not the easiest things to carry around in your pocket but I could really care less. I love them!

3. Naked palette from Urban Decay
This palette is EVERYWHERE and you can watch about a million tutorials on youtube for how to use it. It is hugely popular and they even have a Naked 2 palette as well. Bottom line: a palette blessed with amazing neutral shades across a wide color spectrum that have stellar staying power. Most of the shades  (all but two--nude and buck) have a bit of shimmer. It has a steep price of 50 bucks but it could seriously be the only palette you own and you could create many, many looks with it.

4. MAC paint pots
I own two of these puppies--Bare Study and Soft Ochre. This is an excellent creme shadow and acts as a superb base to eye shadows. You barely use any at a time and my two pots have lasted for-eva!

5. Big & Sexy Root Pump
I used to complain about my heavy and thick, yet limp (at the roots) hair to my hairdresser. She told me I had two options: (1) Use some kind of root lift or volume mousse, (2) Get a good teasing comb. Well, I did both and it has made a world of difference. I think there are a few root lifters out there that I would like to try but I love Big & Sexy so much that I can't bear to change. I apply a copious amount at my roots (with the foghorn nozzle thing you can get a pretty direct shot) all over my head. Rub it in with your fingers and blow dry upside down. Voila! Instant root lift. I can even rub my roots with my fingers during the day and get a little "reactivation" when I feel my hair getting weighed down.

6. Hot Tools curling iron
I bought curling irons for YEARS at Target and Walmart and just made do. They curled my hair and with a bit of product I could make the curls last. However, it wasn't until I bought a high end straightener that I wondered what a difference heat and barrel material would make on my curls. Well folks, it makes a big difference. They usually run about 50 bucks but I held out and got my sweet pink one for $29.99 at Ulta.

7. Gel Liner
The one I have pictured here is from Clinique and is the one I return to the most often. However, I have tried other high ends ones (MAC Fluid track liner) and drugstore (Wet & Wild) and they all pretty much work the same. The precision and staying power of a gel liner is next to none. I'm not gonna lie to ya--it takes some practice to use this product well. Once its on its ON. I use short feathery strokes and simply take my time. A winged line is done perfectly with this gel liner. Two cons: (1) keep it airtight because it will dry out and then its WORTHLESS. (2) You are going to need some strong make-up remover to get this stuff off.

8. MAC Hug Me Lipstick
This may very well be the perfect lipstick. The color looks good on anybody. The texture is nearly that of a lip balm and it has a sweet smell that I'm can't quite put my finger on. I tell anyone who will listen about this lipstick. Get one. Now.