Nars And God Created the Woman palette

Since the beginning of my makeup obsession, Nars has always been one of those real high end companies to me- up there with Dior, Chanel, etc. I really have been wanting to try one of their blushes or Turkish Delight lipgloss, but couldn't justify spending that much money on one item (who am I kidding, of course I could somehow justify it, I was just being a penny pincher). Of course, then a Sephora email came along about some specials and there I was looking at different stuff on the site...then I came across the Nars And God Created the Woman set. And then I ordered it.

Honestly, I have so many different brown and nude colored eyeshadows. I never understood why people buy so many palettes until I came across this. To me, this palette is the perfect thing to travel with. It has all the colors you would need to create a natural, smokey, intense, etc. eye- ALL IN ONE PALETTE! It is just so easy, not to mention the shadows have great pay off. Below is the swatches of each shadow.

From left to right, Alhambra, Bellisima, Kalahari, Galapagos, Coconut Grove and Night Clubbing. This set also came with the Nars Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and Nars #3 Eyeshadow Brush. I love both of those too! The primer didn't crease at all- and I wore my makeup all day. I think it might work a bit better than the Urban Decay Primer Potion, but maybe I will do a test with pictures! The brush was great as well. It was dense enough to place eyeshadow onto the lid, but fluffy enough to blend out edges. I would say it is about the size of a penny- which seems large, but I like how it works with my eye.

Although the set was a whopping $59 it is totally worth it to me. I found my go-to travel palette and finally got to try something from the luxurious Nars brand. Would I purchase this over Urban Decay Naked or Naked 2? YES, to me, this is better. Maybe smaller and more expensive, but better in terms of the color combination.

At the top of my hand you can see a shimmery gold highlight, which is the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal. This is basically a liquid highlight that can be used in many ways, that I got as a free item with my purchase. I haven't really tried this beside the swatch, but I am unsure how well this will work on me only because it seems a tad bit dark for my light skin tone. We shall see though.

Overall, very happy with this Sephora package. I loved everything part of the Nars set and the Becca highlight was just a great bonus product to test out. If you are in the market for a new palette or just want to splurge, I would most definitely suggest this!

Stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

February Glam bag 2013

I was really impressed with last months Glam bag so, of course, I was very excited to see what was going to come for the month of February- and I must say, I was impressed. This is by far the best monthly subscription beauty service that I have found. Here is what came in the bag this month and my first impressions:

The products all came in this patent black case, but I forgot to get that in the picture. First is the Lash Card which are "individually wrapped mascara shields" that are supposed to prevent clumping and smudging. I don't really have a problem with too much mascara getting on my lid, but I can see how it would help with that problem. The only thing I am somewhat iffy about is how big your lashes can get, since I feel that a little bit of clumping is what helps build lots of lashes.

Next is the pop Beauty Smokey Lash Kapow!!! Mascara. I was impressed with the size of the product, since I find even the small mascaras last me a while! Here is what I got this mascara to do with two applications (primer was applied to lashes). Also, this mascara did carry onto my lower and upper lid throughout the day, which made me look like a raccoon! So, overall probably a decent layering mascara, but not what something I would wear on it's own.

Towards the bottom you can see a small Coastal Scents Quad in the color Glitz & Glamour. It is mostly blacks and silvery colors. All of them were good quality except the dark one with glitter. The shadows were a bit powdery but I think they overall were very pigmented.

Then is the Mica Beauty Gel Eyeliner in Black. This is a really intense black that lasts! When I swatched it on my hand it wouldn't come off after I took pictures! I think this might be great for my oily eyelids, since I do have a problem with gel eyeliners moving.

Lastly, I got the pixi Flawless & Poreless Primer. I only swatched this on my hand so I can't tell you if it lessens the visibility of pores and such, but it did feel very different from some other primers I have tried. It didn't feel "silky" but more tacky. So I'm curious to know if that will make makeup hold better? Who knows.

Here are some swatches of all the products!

from left to right: Coastal Scents shadows, (top R) pixi Primer, (bottom R) Mica Beauty gel liner

Overall, I think a great Glam bag. From last month, my favorite product definitely has to be the Nailtini Nail Lacquer in Bloody Mary. I just thought it was the perfect red! Did you get this month's Glam bag? What product has been yours so far, and which products have you loved in the past? Let me know in the comments below!

Always stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

all black OOTD & eyes

Lately I have been loving how all black looks together (in terms of clothes), especially mixing different textures and fabrics. This is what I threw on for today, excuse the morbid expression.

Clothes:
Top- black blouse with black buttons from Forever 21
Bottoms- black crop leggings from Express
Shoes- black buckle boots from JustFab
Jewelry- gold hoops, gold bangles from Forever 21

For the makeup I wanted to go along with the theme of black. I had seen some YouTube tutorials on dark smokey eyes using gel liner as a base, and that is exactly what I did!

I used Taupe from the Lorac Pro Palette in the crease to create a buffer shade. This serves the point of letting me know where I should stop the gel liner. I then used the Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black to draw a rough line of where I want to place the shadow on top of. I then blended out that line a little bit so it wasn't a rough edge. Lastly, I took Slate from the Lorac Pro Palette and put that on top of the gel liner. Again I blended a little more so that there wasn't a harsh line. You can put on some liquid liner if you want, which I did, but it was barely visible.


I tried to keep the rest of the face pretty neutral since there was so much going on. I used the Mally Beauty One Kit Blush in Plum Pretty on my cheeks (I really love this blush even if it takes a long time to build up the color) and then proceeded to put on a nude lip (which is not shown in the picture). You can use any of your favorite nude lipsticks!

This was definitely something different for me because I tend not to wear one dark color all over the lid- I enjoy more of the "gradient" smokey eye look- but I did enjoy it!

What are your favorite eye looks? Would you ever wear a smokey eye this dark? Let me know in the comment section below!

Always stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

snowed-in day activity: Valentine-ify your nails

I don't know about all of you, but I am snowed in. There is no way I am going outside with snow past my knees! (For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, there was a large blizzard named Nemo in the northeast- my area of CT got 2 feet plus.) So I needed to figure out something to do besides school work that would occupy some of my time, and since V-day is coming up soon, I thought why not Valentine-ify my nails!

Obviously this is not the most creative version of Valentine nails, but I wasn't satisfied with anything else I did. I used Wet 'n Wild Mega Last Nail Color in Sugar Coat, a light pink nail polish, on all my nails and then Maybelline Color Show Nail Lacquer in Paint the Town, a red polish, on my ring finger as an "accent" nail.

You can make this as creative as you want! I think using the same colors and adding dots, or even drawing hearts would look really cute (if you have the tools to make precise designs, or a steady hand!). If you google it, I am sure you can find a bunch of cute designs!

I am not really going to be celebrating Valentine's day, since this year it's just me, myself and I, but I thought...what the heck...why not get into the V-day spirit and pass a little time!

Always stay happy, healthy and WARM! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

pop of color using UD Naked 2

I had to do an appearance for football signing day at my university's football stadium and wanted to go for a silver smokey eye with a pop of color. I have been seeing many looks where the eyelid colors are very neutral and then accentuated with a bit of color on the lower lash line. I am really loving the look it gives!

I started off with the color Tease from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and used that in the crease to create a seamless transition. I wanted this somewhat dark but at the same time very blended out. I then took the color Verve (probably one of my favorites) and packed that on densely on the first half of my eye. I wanted to concentrate a lot of this color on center of the lid to really make that stand out. I then took Pistol and placed that on the parts of the eyelid that weren't covered yet. I made sure to not overlap this with Verve. I then took Blackout and put that in the outer corner and blended it towards the crease. I did this very slowly so it wouldn't be difficult to blend while building intensity at the same time.

Now, to the pop of color! I used purple, which technically is still neutral but it's still fun at the same time! So I took Busted and put that on my lower lash line. I put it down a little further than I would (it will look weird to you at first), but it then evened out with mascara. Lastly, I did a thick liner all the way from the inner corner and dragged it out to make a cat-eye shape- which is not very typical for me...but I really do enjoy how dark and sultry this look came out!

For lips, I had to put on red lipstick later on so those were natural for the moment. For the cheeks, I used one of my favorite blushes Lorac Blush in Soul (AHH I love it!).

I really enjoyed doing this look, I think it is great for really any occasion- even Valentine's day! I am loving the under-eye color trend thing and I think it's something I want to keep doing in other looks and venturing out toward different colors. I hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you think of this look in the comments below!

Always stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

Schick Hydro Silk razor

I want to tell you all about this really cool website I found. It's called BzzAgent and basically what you have to do is create an account and answer a bunch of surveys that determine products you may enjoy. They then choose "campaigns" for you to test based on the surveys that you filled out! It's completely free (no entering card info) and the only thing you have to do is give your opinion about the product! It's really that easy!

I was sent the Schick Hydro Silk razor along with some coupons. I was really surprised that it came with an extra cartridge plus a little thing you can stick on your wall in your shower to place the razor in. Although I don't generally have a preference for razors, I thought this was one was really great! You just have to hold it under running water and then shave. I like ones that don't require shaving cream because it makes the whole process much easier and faster. If you like those kind of razors, I would say go out and get this one. The blade stays sharp for a while and the conditioning strip as well!

 

I think this is such a great site and I really advise those who want to get free things to sign up! (I just want to reiterate that I am not being sponsored. I signed up for this site and received a product to give a review, just as anyone else could do. My opinions are my own.)

Always stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina

best of January

It is finally February and time for my January favorite products! I was so ready for January to be over, especially the freezing temperatures- although I don't think they will be going away that quickly! Some of these are new and some are my basics!

On the left is the trusty dupe for the MAC 217, also known as the Coastal Scents Classic Blender Natural Brush (link here). It is $3 and amazing. Really that is all that I need to say because I truly think this brush speaks for itself, I honestly believe you could get a flawless full makeup look with just this brush! Apparently I am not the only one that is a fan of these types of brushes because gossmakeupartist on YouTube made a video on different ways you can use the brush (click here for that video).

The next product is something I got for Christmas and is just amazing for my skin, the one and only MAC Fix+. I must admit I can't use this with every foundation, but when I want to powder my skin in these winter months it gives me such a beautiful finish! I probably won't use this in the summer since I do get oily skin. I like to spray this after I put on my moisturizer and then after I have powdered my face- it's just impressive how amazing my face looks after a few spritzes.

Then I have the p2 Professional Eyeliner Pen. I just really have been loving how easy this is to apply. It's very quick on those mornings when I'm in a rush- which seems like always...the only negative I would say is that the "blackness" fades throughout the day. Still looking to try some other felt tip liners.

Part of my usual routine is the Laura Geller Balance-n-Brighten in the shade Regular. I use this to contour because it can be really natural looking or build up for those nights when I want a bit extra! I can't believe it's almost gone...but I am not sure if I want to buy this again even though I really do like it.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Too Faced La Creme Color Drenched Lip Cream in Naked Dolly. Oh my, if you do not have any of these...get one! They are just the perfect thing to put on your lips. Better than any lip balm I have ever felt, with amazing color and a great smell. I can't describe to you how great this is, just go try it for yourself!

So those were my favorites for the month of January. What products did you find yourself gravitating to during the past month? Let me know in the comment section below! Also, if there are any looks or other posts you'd like to see, feel free to include those down there too!

Always stay happy and healthy! :)

Tschüss, Katharina