Lorac Private Affair Palette Review

This is a very pretty palette containing shimmer neutral shades and two plum-like shades.  They are all pigmented, but of course the darker shades need some layering.  This palette comes with a double ended brush and an eye primer.  I love the packaging, it's so cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little drawer that I discovered after I bought the palette.  I'm a sucker for secret compartments.

Here are the swatches without primer:

The brush is so crappy.  I think they could have gone one little extra step to make the brush denser and softer. 

The primer that came with it is great though.  I first used these shadows with TFSI and they showed up well, but then I used the shadows over the Lorac primer and OMG there was definitely a POW in the amount of pigmentation.  The eyeshadow definitely worked better with its own brand.  The following pictures however are used with TFSI.

The job I did looks weird from far away, but click on the pic and you can see closer up.

I used the first four shadows in this look for my friend's sister:

Before

After

Pros:

-Great day or night shadows
-Great pigmentation
-Cute packaging
-Brush and primer addition (primer = !)
-Medium sized shadows

Cons:
-Kinda pricey at $38 without tax
-Brush

Verdict: The pros definitely outweigh the cons and this is an adorable palette with beautiful shadows, but if you already have similar colors, maybe pass but because of the price only.  I'm just drawn to these colors and am always looking for the best taupey shimmery brown/gray shade and I've found some in this palette :)

Tarte neutralEYES Natural Eye Palette Review

First of all, I love Tarte's eyeshadow. I love that they contain natural ingredients and the pigmentation remains great. I want all of the palettes eventually. I have the Day to Night palette which is simply amazing and this particular palette is wonderful too. It manages to have a natural appearance on the face even though the colors are unique and bold as a palette.  I do wish some were a bit easier to blend and softer, but I get some of the prettiest damn looks out of the Tarte palettes, and I've created one with neutralEYES that I'm going to wear a lot!  Keeping reading for the step by step to my favorite look below.

I tried uploading these from my iPhone (just got one so I've been playing around), but ugh it was so hard so I'm probably not going to do it again.

Some looks:

Here I used the neutral and bone colored shadows and the eyeliner that comes with it.  I used MAC's Painterly paint pot as a base.

Same look, different lighting.

Deep plum shade, navy shade, and nude pink shade.  Sloppy job, but just trying to show the colors.  Blue eyeliner is Covergirl Liquiline Blast eyeliner in Blue Boom.

MY  FAVORITE LOOK SO FAR STEP BY STEP:

Started off with beige shade on lid, then blended to bone shade on brow.

Then I buffed the dark brown shade into the corners of my eyelid and along the top lash line.  Next simply used the brown liner from the palette on upper lash line.



I then took the navy and blended it into the outer corner and swept it across the eyeliner.  Also blended navy into lower lash line.



Finish with mascara and a stupid face :)



Currently I'm in love with L'Oreal Waterproof Voluminous Carbon Black.  I have never ever seen my eyelashes this huge!  Look how long and thick they are.  I accidentally got waterproof which I don't normally buy, but this stuff doesn't make my lashes feel hard and it is pretty easy to take off. 

Pros:

-A lot of colors to choose from (versatility)

-Clean pigmentation

-Best eyeliner ever included (Tarte Emphaseyes aqua gel-eyeliner in Brown)

-Quality brush

-Packaging

-I think I their eye primer came with it too

-All of the colors work together making it easy to creat looks

Cons:

-Consistency of shadows could be altered to make blending a little easier with the deeper shades.

Verdict:

I probably would buy this again just because of the whole product itself.  I love the shadows and the eyeliner and the brush.  I do however prefer the Day to Night palette.

Urban Decay The Fun Palette (Review)

So I think what really draws me to these palettes is the packaging.  Well that's all part of their product marketing so DUH!  But this palette is just that, FUN.  It's fun because of the artwork and shadows as well.  I'm going to review each shadow individually.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit and skulls my favorite symbol I guess you'd say so this was perfect :)

Woodstock: This is a vibrant dark pink or maybe magenta.  I think it is more on the sheer side, but buildable.  When put on my eyelid with primer, it shows up pretty well.  I think this shadow needs a thicker or white base.  It really makes my green eyes stand out.
Baked: GORGEOUS!  It's a very rich and shimmery golden bronze.  The shimmer in it glistens and looks like it's shooting off sparks.  I love it.
Uzi:  Ew.  Sorry but I don't like chunky silver glitter in anything.  It has a nice shimmery white to it, but the glitter chunks ruin it.  I put a little on my lids and it was just basically glitter.  However I have not tried it on my entire lid which would probably look great for going out somewhere funky which I do from time to time so I can't wait to try it.
Sin: This is your basic pretty champagne color, maybe a little darker.  I love it, I think it's beautiful and multipurposeful.
Flipside: Very aquamarine, I felt like a mermaid wearing it, but a pretty one!  It is sheer like Woodstock with a nice sheen to it.
Psychedilic Sister: I basically bought the palette because I wanted to try this color and why not get 5 more if I get the whole thing.  This reminds me a lot of UD Flash, but a little bit deeper.  Pretty sheen, similar consistency of Flipside and Woodstock.
Oil Slick 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil:  Honestly, I don't like it.  I would have preferred if they put Zero or maybe a crazy purple colored liner, but not this.  It doesn't show up well at all.  Again, it's made with glitter chunks.

Swatches without primer:

With flash, inside.

Without flash, outside.

Without flash, outside, different angle.

Oil Slick Glide-On

Here are some looks :)

Flipside and Sin over UDPP.

You can see the sheerness in this picture.

Psychedelic Sister over smeared wnw black creme liner and Sin.

Sorry about the blur, but you can see where Psychedelic Sister sheers out when it's not on the black liner.

Supposed to look scary ;)

 Pros:
-Versatile
-Good amount for the money
-Packaging
-Paired with eyeliner and primer

Cons:
-Consistency of Uvi and Oil Slick liner
-Wish the shadows would be richer/heavier pigmentation.  

Overall:  I think this palette is great.  I can't wait to try out more looks with it.  I said in another review that I'd review the Dangerous Palette, but I returned it because I already had more than one of the colors.

Anyway, up next for review is the Tarte Palette and the Lorac Private Affair palette.  Also some bronzers. EEK!  And here's a picture of my dog lookin like a hill billy:

I LOVE HER!!

Coachella 2011!

I WAS THERE! Yay!  It was so much fun because of the great music and the fact that my boyfriend's friend hooked us up with VIP passes so I got to see a bunch of celebs.  I'm only going to list the ones that I saw even though I know more were there.

Bam Margera
Kellan Lutz

Penn Badgely

Scott Speedman

Teresa Palmer (I think)

Eric Christian Olsen

Brandon Davis

Sal Masekela

Joshua Jackson

Jeff Goldblum

Eric Wareheim

Busy Phillips

Nicole Richie

Camilla Belle

Diane Kruger

Cory Monteith

Emma Roberts

Seth Meyers
Chanel Iman
Malin Akerman
Kirsten Dunst
Ashley Greene
Shiloh Fernandez
Jessica Stam
Kelly Osbourne

And I didn't see these two at Coachella, but while in LA I saw Shannon Elizabeth and Judy Greer.

I don't travel often, but I'm so happy I got to vacation in California while there were snow flurries back in Chicago!  I love Chicago though, but clearly we're behind in fashion or just don't care or have a different sense because nearly EVERYONE in California had the same exact outfit, shoes, hair.  It's probably because it's always warm in Cali that people get to wear whatever they want every day...jealous. 

I haven't seen one person with ombre hair in Illinois yet, but half the girls at Coachella had it.  I've been wanting it for three years now because I really think Gisele started it and I still can't get anyone around here to do it!  Don't know whether I should jump on the bandwagon or not, but it's only hair color so I think I am going to :)

Anyway, I want to give The Chemical Brothers a lot of credit for such a great performance on the first night.  Best performance of the weekend. Here is a video:

 Also watched other artists like Cage the Elephant, Crystal Castles, Mumford & Sons, Kanye West, Green Velvet.

I wanted to go up to some of the celebs and ask for pictures, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I don't want to bother anyone while they are trying to have fun listening to music which is the point of going to the fest.  And not to mention, I'm introverted and weird so it was just be awkward.  Here are some pictures I caught really quick:



Joshua Jackson

Camilla Belle

Nicole Richie

 Some pictures from my time in California:

Next stop Detroit for DEMF!!!  Need to see Skrillex and Venetian Snares.