New!! Mark Flip For It in Urban Neutrals

Wow, what is it with neutrals this fall?? So hot!!

Sorry this post is so late, but I just received this about an hour ago and couldn't WAIT to share with you all!!

Mark has done it again with a gorgeous palette for the fall- packed with my favorite thing in the whole wide world (Puppies? Cute guys in glasses? Dark Chocolate?): neutrals.

I don't know what it is, but to me it seems like with every Flip For It palette Mark releases, it just keeps getting better and better...

First: the packaging. HELLO! Gorgeous. This is the firs time I've ever seen a Flip For It packaging with something other than a solid color. They did good this time around, the color scheme is beautiful and it reminds me of a sunset at the end of an Autumn day.

Now, the colors....

Top Left: Metro
Top Right: Skyline
Blush: Urban Glo


Swatches
Metro eyeshadow, Skyline eyeshadow, Urban Glo blush

I think this may be my favorite palette they have released so far, really. The first eyeshadow in Metro looks like your ordinary highlight shade, but it's more of a soft champagne with a hint of pink, very pretty. Skyline is *sigh* worthy. This is a matte neutral chocolate brown. The matte formula on this shade is buttery soft, very pigmented, and nothing like any of the other Mark mattes available. The blush in the group, Urban Glo, again has to be one of my favorite blushes from Mark. It photographed a little on the warm and a little too peachy, but in real life it's a little cooler and with hints of pink. In my opinion, all the colors work together very well.

Flip it over and on the other side you'll find the 4 lip colors....

Ambiance, Attitude
Siren, Moody


Swatches
Ambiance, Attitude, Siren, Moody

Again!!!! This palette is my favorite grouping of lip colors of all the Flip For It's I own. The top two colors are more of lipsticks, but a little on the sheer side, so I swatched more heavy to see the true color. The first shade, Ambiance, is a really pretty neutral pink. Attitude is a rosy brown, but still neutral and cool. The bottom two shades are lipglosses. Siren is my FAVORITE!!! It's a gorgeous wine/berry sheer tint lipgloss, this for me is what fall makeup is all about. Moody is a sheer, clear lipgloss with a golden sheen to it. I'm not one for glittery glosses, but it's not gritty at all and would leave a pretty effect over any lipstick.

Bottom line: this is a HIT. Mark is sure following the trend of releasing neutrals. All the shades are gorgeous and work beautifully together. I think this will be released at the end of the month, but don't quote me on that. The set retails for $20 and, as always, is a great deal.

Rebel Rebel...Mark Rebel Rose Quad.

First, let me get this out of the way:

Ahh, that's better :) Thank you Mr. Bowie for setting up this review.

Once again Mark has graced us with another fabulous pre-made eye shadow quad named Rebel Rose (to go along with a new fragrance of the same name). In the past, these have been some of the best products Mark has to offer (Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the 4th shadow quad to come out- including the amazing Bohista quad, the extra-smokey Femme 4 quad, and another quad that I can't remember because I never got, help?).

The Rebel Rose quad comes with 4 shadows- Rebel, Saucy, Corset, and Lovestruck. Two of the shadows, Corset and Lovestruck, are part of their regular eye shadow line.

The first shadow, Rebel, is a shimmery white- suitable for highlighting. Under the light it seems to have a slight pink sheen to it. It's not overly shimmery with no obvious sparkles or glitter. The second shade Saucy is actually a repeat from the Femme 4 quad I mentioned above, but is not part of the regular line. It's a dark smokey sparkly purple with a hint of blue in the sparkles. Next is Corset, which, if I'm not mistaken again, has just been made permanent not to long ago (it was limited for the longest time before). This is a complex shade (that I really like) as I don't quite find it black, and I don't quite find it grey, but I also sense hints of purple when held at certain angles. The last shade, Lovestruck, has long been part of the regular line. It's a bright shimmery pink that bears resemblance to MAC's Sushi Flower (I have this as well but think Lovestruck is much better in terms of texture and shimmer and not as coral as Sushi).

When I saw this for the first time in the demo catalog, I wasn't so sure that these colors would go together. But seeing them in person I see how the complete package can make an attractive look. All in all this is another top-notch release from mark!

Monday Morning Pretty - Marimekko for Avon.

I'm back! I couldn't stand to go without updating for almost a whole week! I'm still a little sick, (Yeah, really, this cough will not go away) but feeling much better than this time last week. Anyways, enough rambling.....

This isn't a formal review or anything, just an opportunity to post some pretty pictures :-*

The Finnish fabric/textile company Marimekko, teamed up with Avon to produce four palettes, two for the face and two for the eyes. I received them tonight and couldn't help but jump on here and share the cuteness factor times a million....

Seriously. How cute are those boxes? The flower pattern stays true to Marimekko's signature style which is also repeated on the inside (Yes, the inside. I forgot to take a picture but I love when there are designs on the inside of boxes) and....

...on the palette's themselves! Here is one of the eye palettes in Poppy Bloom.

I know I said this wasn't a formal review, I'm already going to say that this face palette is my absolute favorite out of the two. This is in Poppy Bouqet.

I'll do a review/swatch post soon, but for now, stare at the pretty flowers :)

Review - Sonia Kashuk Breathless Brunette Palette

I think this is the quickest I've done a review. So far I've had the habit of letting the product sit for a few days then I try it out. I don't know what it is about this palette, but I knew I had to try it out fast.

What I really like about this palette, is that everything goes together. Some palettes you look at them and think...how in the hell is that supposed to go together? Everything is perfectly harmonized. I also like that it's versatile. I used it for an easy at work look, but I know that in a few extra steps I can use it for a going out look. Plus, it's rather perfect in size, not too big, not too small, and each pan of product is nicely sized.

Let's go through each product, shall we?

Here's the same photo I posted before, only with a numbered guide to help us along:

1 = Lipgloss
2= Lipcolor/Lipstick
3 & 5 = Eye Shadow
4 = Powder Liner
6 = Blush
7 = Brow Pencil
8 & 9 = Concealer

Here are swatches corresponding to the above palette :)

-#1 Lipgloss is a nice gloss pinky nude. It has decent pigment, but on my lips it disappears into a nice MLBB (my lips but better) gloss.

-#2 Lip Color is a gorgeous berry/red and is much much thicker than the gloss. You can see from the swatch it has really dense color. It goes on much like a lipstick and leaves a really nice stain.

-#3 Eye Shadow is a shimmery beige, with a bit of pink to it. The swatch is a little deceiving, it actually went on really well and left good color with one application. I think it's a little too pink to use as a highlighter, so I'll just use it on my lid (but, that's just me).

-#4 Powder Liner is a dark, almost black, brown. Again, the swatch is deceiving because it is much darker, as you'll see a bit later. It has the faintest sparkle, but nothing that is on the verge of blingy or irritating to the eyes. Not only could this be used as a liner, but it could also be used as a contour/crease color to deepen the eye for a nightime/evening look.

-#5 Eye Shadow is a cool (!!!), matte (!!!) malted brown. I wouldn't call it chocolate. So malted it is. I'm so thrilled that this is COOL!!!! I have to be very careful when picking my brown shadows, especially matte finish, because some can have red unertones/bases and that does not make my eyes look pretty nor perky. This is the perfect crease color.

-#6 Blush is a more-pigmented-than-I-thought-it-was-gonna-be pink blush with a matte finish. It's much brigher and pigmented than I thought. I definitely over-did it on my first application. It's the largest pan in the palette and I think it's going to be the one standing last, because a little goes a long way.

-#7 Brow Pencil is something I didn't think I was going to like. I'm not keen on brow pencils in general. Either the pencil is too hard and I get harsh lines, or, the pencil is too waxy and soft and my eyebrows still look unnatural. I didn't think it was dark enough, either. Well, I was wrong on both accounts. The texture of the pencil is perfect, not too waxy or hard. And the color, which I thought looked too light at first, was a really good match. Granted, it's a little lighter than what I usually use (NYC Browser Kit), but it still made my brows look great. I may have to buy a full-sized pencil from the regular line (hopefuly they have it!).

-#8 & #9 Concealers are surprisingly awesome. I'm very picky when it comes to concealers (very very very picky). I'm mainly concerned with color, something too yellow or too dark just won't jive. The first concealer (#8) is perfect for highlighting icky spots, and looks really good tapped on the browbone too (sometimes I use a light concealer on my browbone as a highlighter, it brightens it up without the hassle of a shimmery shadow). The darker concealer (#9) is too dark to use on my face, however, mixed with #9 it's a perfect match! Imagine that!! Plus, they're creamy and go on smooth.

Here's how I used it!

I used shadow #3 on the lid with shadow #5 in the crease. I added a bit of my favorite SK shadow, Burnished, to the outer part of the lid for a little "oomph." Then #4 powder liner to, uh, line and I also used the brow pencil.

The Final Note: I can't believe I snagged this up at $4!! This is obviously a great deal for the discounted price, but for the record I would say that this would still be an amazing deal for the full price (whatever that is, I think it might have been around $13, I'm just not sure). This is an extremely versatile day-to-night palette that is perfect for cool-toned brunettes (We just don't get enough love!). I love it so much, it has me singing this when I use it:

Flip for London.

Last night my lovely Aunt graced me with a small Avon order I placed a couple of weeks ago. In it was one of the new Mark Flip For It palettes! I only intend on getting this one, the other two in the collection I won't be getting. I either don't care for the colors or they look too warm for me. However...the one I received (London) is gorgeous! I would go as far as saying it's one of my favorite Flip For It's. Anyway, pictures!

The first side, two eyeshadows, one blush.


Piccadilly = Gorgeous matte grape purple. Great pigment.
London Bridge = Shimmery gold/brown...taupe?
Cameo Glo Blush = Part of their permanent collection. I haven't tried this on yet. Shimmery peachy rose/pink? Sometimes I stink at color descriptions.


The Lips side: Proper Kiss / Watermelon / West End Pout / Queenie. All are on the sheer side, as usual, but have a very smooth application. Light scent and taste, nothing too over-powering. The one with "most" pigment is the bottom right, Queenie. Don't expect dark berry lips or anything, but just a sheer berry tint. I really like the lip products on this one for some reason.

And just for fun, here's a photo of all the Flip For It's currently in my stash:

Obsessed, much? :)

Adventures in depotting: #1

I finally did it! I depotted my first shadows!

So for a while I've had these E.L.F. palettes in my makeup tower. Not really doing anything. Just hanging around. I even had some E.L.F. singles lying around, think I did anything with them? Nope. They sat in their respective plastic shell packaging getting lost in a sea of single shadows. This weekend for a little mini-project, I decided to finally pop these babies into a palette along with some Milani singles.

Milani Sheer Sand, E.L.F. Moondust

Milani Antique Gold, E.L.F. Dusk

Putting an E.L.F shadow in a palette is about as hard as opening a door (but....you never know), so that was a no brainer. Depotting Milani was just as easy. It took me all of 5 minutes and, as you can see from the picture, had no casualties.

I did the alcohol method, which was a breeze. I peeled off the label from the back of the single and took a small flathead screwdriver and dipped it in some rubbing alcohol and then dipped it over the little hole on the back of the single. I let it "marinate" for about 5 minutes and in the meantime looked for some magnets. I, for the life of me, can't find rolls of magnet tape (that isn't 10 inches thick) that people use for palettes. So, I used the next best thing: magnets from the fridge. I had these small magnets, the type to "build a sentence". These were free, so I didn't mind. Since they weren't self-stick I took some double-stick tape and cut it to size.

Back to the singles, I took a push pin and stuck it in the hole, it didn't take much force for the pan to pop right out! Alright!! I was a depotting virgin no more!! Then took my little magnets, stuck that on, then stuck a label with the name on it- then popped it in the palette! I admit, I guess it would stick a little better if I had some new magnets (the ones from the fridge are kind of old), but it still works and unless I'm on a trampoline, the shadows aren't going anywhere. It's not a bad looking palette, right? ;)

On an ending note, I think I'm in love with The She Space. I really am. Today I used Deafening Silence (or was it Distant Rumor?) on lid with Resisted Anxiety on outer lid and Moonlight Whimsey (I think, haha. I was in a rush this morning) to highlight. I instantly fell in love with the creamy consistency and the PIGMENT! Oh. My. God. The. Pigment. I'll take some in-depth pictures soon, but I beg of you GO TO THE SHE SPACE!!!! Look around and order some samples, I promise you won't be disappointed.

What's in store.

I thought I would give a sneak peek at what's to come. This is the last drawer of my make up tower (the drawer I call "Drawer The Fifth"...not original, I know) filled with palettes:


Well, mostly. I do admit that my tower isn't the most organized and hopefully that will change soon. Anyways, in the above photo you can see that the majority of my palette collection is Wet 'n' Wild, a brand that I have grown to love over the past couple of years. I may do a review/swatch post on the newest babies to the batch: the I-Sparkle palettes. I just picked these up last week so I can still look at these with "fresh" eyes. If we're lucky, that post will actually be up today.