Naked2 Basics Review & Swatches

They got me again - Urban Decay and their Naked line always has a way of creeping into my Sephora shopping cart. Here it is, the sequel to the Naked Basics, a palette I've pretty well permanently kept in my everyday makeup bag for a year and a half now. I think it's a combination of the size (so lovely and compact), the all matte colors (which I've been completely obsessed with lately), and the whole taupe/brown shade family housed in this lovely little palette that made me fall for it just as hard as I fell for the first. 

Although the shades are from different families - the original being on the warmer end of things, and the second being cooler - the palette in general is set up in the same way. You get five matte shades, and one demi-matte shade (Skimp) which is perfect for highlighting - similar to the original which includes Venus as a highlighting shade. 

I really enjoy how they both include a deeper, darker matte shade as well - perfect for using as a liner, or for deepening up the outer corner of the eye when doing your smokey eye of choice. 

Top - Naked Basics

Bottom - Naked2 Basics 

I think the main reason I love these palettes both so much is the versatility you are able to have with them - using them solo you can get some lovely matte looks, or you can utilize the matte shades along with shimmers from another palette you love to create a really amazing combination. It's certainly no secret that none of the Naked Palettes have all that many matte shades, which are always super useful for blending and adding extra definition to any eye look. With these in combination with any or all of the Naked Palettes 1-3 you have no end to the amount of looks and shimmer/matte combinations. 

A Little Sephora Haul | March 2015

It had been so long since I grabbed anything from Sephora - quite proud of myself for actually showing restraint and giving my pocket book a break - but when I noticed my St. Tropez tanner was running low I knew it was time to place an order.

I ended up keeping it straight forward and only made two major purchases - I got a replacement St. Tropez Self Tanning Mouse, this time I went for the dark, I've been interested in trying it out and seeing how it compares to the original (post will be coming soon on that!).

I also ended up caving and picking up the Naked2 Basics. I've had the original for quite some time now and I use it pretty well every day so I thought I would add this one to my collection as well since matte shadows have been my jam lately - of course going to do a review/comparison post on this as well!

I typically like to save my points for a big point perk, but I had 400 just sitting there calling my name so I went ahead and used them since I was interested in trying out some skin care samples. I ended up choosing the Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar, Clinique Repairwear Sculpting Night Cream, Ole Henriksen Truth Serum and a Kat Von D Immortal Lash mascara. I also used a code at check out and got the Ole Henriksen Ultimate Lift Eye Gel. I've been pretty basic with my skin routine lately and haven't tried anything new in quite a while so hopefully I'll enjoy some of these samples enough to buy the full size. 

Super Soft Smokey Eye Using Naked 2

Hey guys! So this is just a super quick post to give you a run down of one of my favorite eye looks I've been doing lately. It's super quick and simple and I've been loving how these colors make my eyes seem to pop. 

I've been using my Mac paint pot in Painterly as a base. I then take my Naked 2 palette and apply Foxy on my brow bone and inner third of my eyelid as well. Next I take Tease (my favorite shade from this palette), and apply it all over the lid and just to the crease. I take a fluffy blending brush with more Foxy on it and blend it into the crease so both colors transition nicely into one another. To deepen up the outer portion of the lid and into the crease I apply Busted.

To finish off the look I apply a mixture of Busted and Tease to the bottom lash line. I then apply my favorite liquid liner - Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense, and Loreal Miss Manga mascara - full review of this mascara here. I always highlight my inner corner very last, and for that I take Bootycall on a small precision brush and apply it to my inner corner as well as a very light touch under the brow.

Brand Boast | Maybelline New York

Hey guys! So I'm back with a second installment of my series called 'Brand Boast', and this one is going to be focusing on Maybelline New York. 

Maybelline began with a Chicago chemist named Thomas Williams who was trying to help his sister Maybel enhance her beauty in an attempt to win over the man she was in love with. She would use petroleum jelly to enhance her brows and lashes, but Thomas took it one step further by adding carbon dust into the petroleum jelly to further enhance her features. The creation was a success, and in 1915 Thomas Williams founded the company that is now a global giant.

Now that I've given you a run down of what the brand is about, let me break down why I absolutely love this company and its products so much!

Eyes
I'm starting off with eye makeup because well.. that's apparently where this company started, and that's where they are still rocking it 100 years later. Maybelline totally knows how to do eyeshadows well, and I feel like they just keep getting better and better. I think their best launch in recent years has to be the color tattoo cream eyeshadows however, they are amazing!
They also really know how to make a mascara - really - I can't even tell you how many I've bought since my mom first allowed me to buy makeup, but  I do know my first kind was the 'Great Lash' mascara, which I still buy to this day. Maybelline is the one brand that sends me into excitement mode with each and every new mascara - new formula, gotta try it!

Lips
I find I never used to gravitate towards Maybelline lip products, but in the past couple years I feel like I've been seeing more and more amazing things come from them. They've always have good lipsticks, but I feel like they took it to the next level with their releases of the vivid line, nude line and now they have a matte line. All amazing quality lipsticks for the price of about 6-8$ CAD. As far as lip gloss goes I was never completely over the moon about anything until the Color Elixir glosses were released, now they are my absolute favorite drugstore lip gloss - they seriously rock!

Face
With a wide range of products that do everything from prime, to cover lightly using a BBcream, to a full coverage foundation I feel like they offer something for everyone. Their powders are also some of my favorites from the drugstore - so finely milled and provide the perfect finish without looking over done. They also offer a variety of cream and powder blushes and bronzers to complete your look. The bouncy blushes have long been one of my favorite cream blushes from the drugstore, and who doesn't love a good cream blush product!



I hope you enjoyed this run down of Maybelline New York and my thoughts on some of my favorites from the brand. If you would like to see more of these 'brand boast' posts comment below and request my next brand to feature! 

Beating Winter Blues With Champagne Shades

I love a good glow in my makeup all year round, but I seem to be craving that lit from within look even more during this gloomy time of year. We're right into the thick of the winter right now, and it's not our skins best friend. The dry weather and short days tend to make skin dull and lack luster - my solution is to pull out the champagne tones. 

(Top to bottom) CG Champagne, MAC Naked Lunch, Hard Candy Tiki Bronzer

(Top to bottom) Benefit Watts Up, Smashbox light luminizer, NYX cottage cheese, 

Rimmel bullet proof beige 

My first and most obvious choice - note the name - is the Covergirl Eye Enhancers eyeshadow in Champagne. So soft and buttery, it makes for the most amazing inner corner highlight that will truly make your eyes pop. Naked Lunch from MAC is also one of my favorite powder eyeshadows for bringing extra brightness to my eyes - the bonus is it isn't a heavy glitter shade so it never looks over the top. As for cheeks my go to powder product is the Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki. It's labeled as a bronzer but for that purpose I think it would be impossible to pull off. It is however one of the best drugstore highlighting products I've ever found. 

If you're more of a cream product type of person, especially in terms of face highlighters, then Benefit Watts Up is the perfect product. In a stick form it makes for super easy application and adds the most wonderfully natural glow to the skin without looking like you actually applied a highlighting product. Smashbox Artificial Light Luminizing Powder - what a mouth full - is yes, technically, a "powder", however I kind of find it to be an in between kind of product. The applicator dispenses small amounts of this creamy powder that adds such a beautiful glow to the cheeks or eyes. Just a tip, I dispense it onto the back of my hand and then use a brush to apply it to where I want it - applying it straight from the container can get a little tedious. 

My final two picks are both eyeshadow sticks, and seriously, who doesn't love a good eyeshadow stick - so easy to use and convenient. The NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in cottage cheese - the name leaves little to be desired - is a stunner. It's shimmery white with undertones of gold. Finally the Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow stick in bulletproof beige, which I must add is waterproof, adds a gorgeous light golden glow to the lids. I love wearing this both alone and as a base to make other shadows really pop. 

Five Things | Perfect Mac Starter Eyeshadows

In terms of eyeshadows you've really got to love some MAC, am I right? The thing with this is that their large selection - the large range of colors and finishes, can be amazing for a seasoned MUA, but for a beginner approaching a counter can be more than a little intimidating. Hopefully some of the apprehension can be taken care of with this run down of my five favorites which are perfect for beginners. The only requirement is that you have to love neutrals - neutrals are my jam if you didn't already realize - and have a decent makeup brush for eyeshadow application. 

My first and probably most well known of the bunch is Naked Lunch. This beauty is probably one of my first true loves from MAC - I've hit pan! It's just so easy to wear. It can be a light wash of color, or it can be the beginning of a more glamorous and dramatic eye. If I'm not just wearing this on its own (which I do quite a lot), I love pairing it with Espresso. This is a warm, matte cocoa shade that makes for the perfect crease color - it's soft enough to not look over the top. It also makes for a great brow shade depending on your natural tones. It blends like a dream which is why I find myself reaching for it with many of my brown smokey looks - you wont get any chalkiness here!

The next two shades I picked also have a lovely relationship with Naked Lunch - they both look amazing when used as a crease color. Cork is a matte golden brown shade, and much like Espresso, one of my go to crease shades for any type of neutral smokey eye. Also like Espresso, it is so smooth, blendable and not chalky or powdery at all. If you want something that is still neutral but more on the taupe end of things then Quarry is an amazing option. Out of my selection of five this is the third and final matte I chose. This is a soft plum brown that I enjoy wearing both in the crease with something like NL, or on its own swept over the lid as a nice simple wash of color - trust me it's a stunner!

Finally, where on earth would a neutral lover be without a good bronze option? Mulch is a brown with undertones of red and bronze pearl. It has a velvet finish which basically just means all the shine glamour without the risk of glitter fallout. This is another shade that can easily be thrown all over the lid and blended out into the crease - it looks like you did way more work than you actually did. It also looks stunning when built up with other colors to create a great smokey eye look. Any way you want to rock this is the right way in my opinion. 

So there you have it, five shadows that can easily be mixed and matched to create everything from an everyday wash of color to a dramatic evening smokey eye. What would your go to favorite five from MAC be? Let me know below! 

November Favorites 2014

As another month comes to and end it's that time where I round up some of the things I've used and enjoyed the most this month... here's what I came up with! 

NYX Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo

Guys, seriously, I've been obsessed with this little beauty this month. It is so soft and creamy (as the name would suggest) and I don't find it drying like other matte lip products I've tried. It's long wearing and smells amazing too! Going to be getting more shades in the very near future because I think I'm in love.

Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation

I plan on doing a full review/how I apply this product really soon but just know it is seriously awesome stuff. I may actually have to dub this my favorite drugstore foundation of all time (wow! now that says something!). 

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner Definer in Natural 

This is an old favorite that really never isn't in my makeup bag, I've gone through at least 4 of these guys in my time and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It's the 'my lips but better' lip liner shade, and I adore it so much I wear it on its own a lot of the time as well. This month I've been really loving it combined with the next product I'm going to mention. 

Maybelline Color Elixir in Nude Illusion 

This stunner has been going over top of the Rimmel liner and making for my perfect everyday lip combo. These glosses are also an addiction of mine - my goal is to get every single color... seriously. They feel amazing and smell even better! 

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

Another oldie but goodie. It's such an effortless product and I think that's why I always end up throwing it back into my makeup bag time and time again.

EVAmour Perfume by Eva Longoria 

I must say I did not buy this for myself, my mother in law picked it up on a whim while in duty free while on a trip to North Carolina. I'm usually slightly nervous to receive fragrances as a gift because I'm so particular about what I truly like to wear. She really did amazing picking this up though, it is just me plus fall - I am terrible at describing scents but I highly recommend giving this a sniff next time you're able to because it's simply lovely.

Maybelline Pumped Up Mascara

As you can probably tell, if Maybelline comes out with a new mascara Hannah buys it, and fast. This has been in my makeup bag all month long and I've really been enjoying how plump and full and, of course, 'pumped up' it makes my lashes look. 

Maybelline Gel Liner in Brown

I've been loving this for both lining my eyes and for my water line and tight line. It lasts all day, the formula is smooth and creamy and I've been really digging brown liner because it's not as harsh looking as black can be, which is great for every day wear. 

Sally Hansen Polish in Ruby Do

Really no explanation needed for this aside from that its a lovely creamy burgundy wine color, and is the exact shade that I'm obsessed with at this time of year. I really love the formula of this polish, it's super creamy and opaque in one coat. I also enjoy the brush as it's bigger than ones like Essie/OPI. 

Notebooks

Finally, in the picture above you see I added in a notebook. This has just been the one I've been using over the past few weeks, but in general any form of notebook is always a favorite of mine. I use them for my daily life to keep track of jobs around the house, for my blog, for work, and to keep track of my kids and where they need to be - I would be totally lost without a notebook on the go at all times. 

Naked 2 Palette Review and Swatches

Its been about a year and a half since I bit the bullet and got even more Naked in my life (Urban Decay Naked that is), and somehow I've yet to do my own personal post on my thoughts and swatches of the palette. I really have no clue how its taken me this long, but finally I am here with a post which I hope you will enjoy!

Compared to the Naked 1 there are many differences between the two, first and foremost being the exterior of the palette. The first Naked palette was velvety in texture with printed lettering on the front (as you can see in the picture below mine is extremely dirty and the letters have faded a ton since I bought it). Naked 2 has a hard exterior and snaps shut vs the N1 which had a magnetic closure.

If you would like to see a broader look into my thoughts of the N1, you can check out the post I did on it here. 

Just like with the first, there are 12 eyeshadows, but unlike the first they are much more taupe themed and on the cooler end of the spectrum. 

Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper

Chopper is probably my least favorite shade out of the entire palette as it has a lot of chunky glitter and I tend to always have a problem with fallout when I wear this shade.

Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol

Tease and Suspect are absolutely my top two favorites from the entire palette. Tease reminds me a lot of one of my favorite Mac shades 'Quarry' which I love. Suspect is just the perfect shimmery taupe beige and I adore wearing it all over the lid and on the lower lash line for a quick and simple eye look.

Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

Two of my other absolute favorites from the palette are YDK and Busted - combined together for an eye look you are totally ready for a night out. Also Verve is probably one of the best silver shades I've ever come across - it can be used subtly or built up for a huge impact. Blackout is also one of the best matte blacks I've ever had, and of course you can never have too many good blacks in your collection because they are just so versatile. 

Now if you were to ask which of the two comes out on top for me.. well the answer is still going to be the original Naked, but this is a really close second, especially for the fall and winter months.

Hope you enjoyed this review/overview and I'll see you in my next post!

Maybelline 'The Nudes' Palette - Review & Swatches

As promised in my October favorites post, here is my thoughts and opinions on The Nudes palette from Maybelline, and swatches of the shadows. 

As I mentioned previously in my favorites, I had been unsure whether or not there was a point in getting this palette. Yes its nudes, yes I love nudes, but I thought it may just be another mediocre quality nude themed palette taking up space in my collection, and I could just put the money towards something a little more expensive that is certain to be good quality. My mind was swayed after seeing several positive reviews from some of my favorite Youtubers and beauty bloggers alike however. 

Since picking this up around the end of September I've been using it almost daily and have been more than happy with my decision. It varies in price depending on where you go, but its between $10.99 - $14.99 CAD. You get 12 shadows - 5 matte, 7 shimmery/frosted. The palette also comes with a double ended applicator and several small charts on the back with suggestions on how to combine the shadows to achieve different eye looks. 

I find this palette to be quite versatile, with many different options and ways to wear it, from subtle to deep smokey eyes. Although a couple of the shades weren't quite as pigmented as I had hoped (specifically the black shade) I really can't say any major criticisms about the product as a whole - you're certainly getting your moneys worth!

I hope you found this little post helpful!
Post any requests in the comments, and also let me know if you have tried/are thinking of trying this palette out!