Let's just heave a sigh that its now over. August wasn't too much of a vast improvement over July, between school and work and just all around feeling icky. Needless to say, I'm trying to approach September with a better and brighter attitude and renewed creativity. And a new camera battery. *Cue Hallelujah chorus*

But fall is approaching - and you can see it in the drugstore. I can't wait to break out my berry and vampy shades!

For how little I actually got excited about this month, I actually have a decent amount of favorites - and most of them are new ins! Retail therapy? Probably.

Can we count my desk as a whole as a favorite?? I've had it for about 2 months now but I love it! I needed a workstation - badly.

Eyes:

The two palettes are:

- Too Faced Pretty Rebel - I was actually pleasantly surprised with this one. I was able to get several cohesive looks out of this, which is the test of a great palette - I wasn't having to reach for a different browbone shade, etc. There really lacks a dud in this one, and some of the shades are really out of this world. I reviewed this one here.

- Bare Minerals The Power Neutrals - If its Bare Minerals and 100%, we all knew it was a must have for me. I like that this is a cooler toned neutral palette. Did I need it, since I already have the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette? Not really, but I can't get over how great of an eyeshadow formula Bare Minerals has on their hands. I reviewed this here.

The four singles and primer are:

- Darling Girl Brocade - This is a one and done shade. I applied it dry all over my lid and into the crease and then applied it with mixing medium to bring out the golden shift on the inner two thirds of the lid. I will likely be wearing this a lot this autumn, its incredible!

- Maybelline Pomegranate Punk - I've been feeling this kind of shade lately, reds and cranberries and burgundies. I used this as a base under LORAC Garnet from the LORAC Pro Palette and oh my everloving goodness was it lovely. I use at least one color tattoo as a base at least 6 out of the 7 days in a week. I love them!

- MAC Patina - I overlooked Patina for so long, thinking it wouldn't flatter me. I'm in love with it because its warm, but not so warm that I can't use it all the time. Very unique shade, and I now see why this is raved about so much in the blogging/youtube community.

- MAC Brun - I've been wanting this one for some time now. I needed a really dark crease/liner/whatever else shade for when Copperplate just wasn't enough (gasp! Don't freak out, Copperplate is still one of my all time faves!). It has great pigment and works with almost everything I put it with. I'm slowly building my MAC palette to a one and done palette - but since I moved my Urban Decay shadow's into their own palette, theres still a lot of room to fill up!

- Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy - This lives up to it's hype, I'll tell you that. I don't know if it is the thicker and stickier texture, but this stuff is like glue. I'm glad I finally tried this. I am in desperate need of doing a post about mixing mediums!

Lips:

From left to right - 

- MAC Pink Plaid - I've probably featured this before, but this has been the only lipstick I've really wore this month. Its a medium cool pink on my skin and looks polished without being overly bright - which I just wasn't feeling this month.

- Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Rose - My birthday is in December, so I just recently ran out of the clear version of this that I got from Sephora for my birthday. I really love the formula, so I've been using this one to moisturize my lips. Its kind of been a copout, since it does have the light tint in it, I've just been kind of choosing this in lieu of an actual lipcolor.

Cheeks:

Minus Illamasqua Katie (which shouldn't surprise anyone) this - Tarte Fantastic - is one of the only blushes that I've actually worn more than once this month. This was part of a holiday set, but Tarte does make very similar shades in the permanent range. I've been doing a "shop my stash" of sorts with my blushes, and wearing ones that needed a little love.

Face: 

I, for some reason have been hoarding foundations this month, and theres been a whole lot of testing going on. From left to right I have:

- Maybelline Superstay - I actually really like this so far. The formula is matte without being cakey or accentuating my pores. So far, so good.

- Wet 'N Wild Coverall - I can't believe how much I like this versus how cheap it was! $3.99! I'm okay with that! So I got the pressed powder that goes with it and I've been mostly using it as a setting powder, but it gives enough coverage for me to wear it alone with a primer if I'm, say, running to the grocery store or something of the sort. Love!

Brushes:

We all know I hoard brushes, so these are all new ins. From left to right these are;

- Ecotools Sheer Finish Kabuki Brush - My sister absorbed my other duo fiber brush, and I was in desperate need of a new one, so I picked this up. I'm normally not much of a Kabuki person, but I really like it. Its soft, easy to hold onto, and kind of makes me feel like I'm sitting at a vanity putting on makeup in a black and white movie. 

- Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush - I love my Real Techniques buffing brush, don't get me wrong, but this one is a little bit bigger and thus, faster. I use this on larger areas and my Real Techniques on smaller areas most of the time. 

- SOHO Contour Blush Brush - I got this at Walgreens on sale, and its not listed on the website, so I'm assuming its been discontinued. I really like angled brushes for applying lesser pigmented blushes, because I feel like the flat side of them picks up the product evenly rather than the regular dome of a blush brush. 

- Ecotools Deluxe Fan Brush - This is the believable highlighting brush,  my friends. If I try to highlight with my ELF fan brush using anything else but something like NARS Albatross, nothing is going to show up. This is dense enough to pick up some product, while still being thin enough to deposit product in the right areas. I've used it across the whole cheek with a very pigmented blush for something more understated as well, and it works great. All around great brush.

- Ecotools Angled Eyeliner Brush - This has a great amount of density to be used in the brows without being too thick. I personally like the Real Techniques Eyeliner Brush a lot, but for people who found that one too big, this may be the answer.

- Ecotools Concealer Brush - Its brush cleaning day today, don't judge me. I primarily use this for cream or pigment eyeshadows, as you can see by the war between Maybelline Waves of White and Fyrinnae Wizards' Wedding Cake on it. I love these kind of brushes for cream shadow purposes, especially in terms of bases, because of the larger size.

Hair:

I've become so lazy with my hair now that it is finally long enough to put into a tiny little bun. Its my curse. However, when I've actually been styling it, I've taken to the Got2B Ultra Glued Invisible Styling Gel. Seriously, where was this stuff during my younger punk days. It has the most strong hold I've ever come across and accentuates my layers in a really awesome, spiky manner. It also smells like lemongrass to me, which is a win in and of itself.

I've also heard everyone and their dog rave about Aussie 3 Minute Miracle - so I figured that since I have a little bit of volume to spare thanks to my shampoo and all around shorter hair, that it wouldn't weigh me down too much. It actually did nothing to weigh my hair down, but did everything to improve my hair. I used this a week ago and my hair still is in wonderful shape after several washes. I definitely get the hype!

Skincare:

I've been all about taking better care of my skin this month, and I've already seen a difference in it! These aren't my extensive day to day products of choice, but rather the ones that really stuck out to me and are new in my rotation. From left to right these are;

- Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil - I've been using this in two places; the furrow of my brows to stave of frown lines and on the sides of my chin where I have hormonal dry skin. In terms of frown lines, its definitely more of a precautionary measure, but for my dry skin it has definitely made a huge difference.

- Make Up For Ever Sens'Eyes Waterproof Sensitive Eye Cleanser - This has such a strange consistency but it doesn't irritate my eyes in the least and gets off every single bit of makeup (even my Maybelline Illegal lengths, which I accidentally bought in waterproof and is a pain in the tush to get off!)

- Mario Badescu Strawberry Face Scrub - I received this as a sample and I thought I was going to hate it at first. Basically, its strawberry seeds suspended in a creamy cleanser. Turns out I'm in love. It exfoliates my skin without being too abrasive and the cleanser itself just feels and smells wonderful.

- Olay Fresh Effects Va-Va-Vivid Powered Contour Cleansing Brush - I noted how much I love Olay Fresh Effects Shine Minimizing cleanser, and this brush came with a sample size of it! I really like that the brush does more to buff the cleanser into the skin rather than being a harsh exfoliator.

Nails:

From left to right:

- Essie Mochachino - I don't care how much of a fall color this is, its stunning. Its kind of a brownish taupe with shimmer and its literally at all time favorite status by now.

- Essie The Girls Are Out - This polish has a phenomenal formula. Its nearly opaque in one go and the shimmer is there, just kind of subtle. Very pretty.

- China Glaze Refresh Mint - This is on the bluer size of the mint spectrum, which sets it apart. Its on my toes as we speak.

Fragrance:

From left to right these are;

- Bath and Body Works Caribbean Escape - It wouldn't be a favorites post without a Pocketbac! This one has been on my desk all month, so its been getting a lot of use. This one is very fragrant! Funny fact, I have these stashed everywhere. One in my bag, one on my desk, one in my car and one on my nightstand. Germaphobe? Maybe.

- Victoria's Secret Bombshell Forever - This fragrance has a touch of boysenberry in it, which makes it really different! Its fun and fruity without being obviously fruity, if that makes any sense.

- Bath and Body Works Sexy Dahlia Rush - This has been a great transition into fall fragrance. I've definitely been enjoying it.

Phew! That was a lot! To be honest, I'm very excited about what this autumn will hold makeup wise. I've seen a lot of awesome collections popping up, so I can't wait!

Review - bareMinerals READY 8.0 Eyeshadow Palette in Power Neutrals.

Let me just begin with a rant here...

Maybe its because I work in retail, or maybe because I keep my self so informed on new products - but either way, one of my biggest shopping pet peeves is when employees are not aware of the products they have in their store or newly launched products that they will soon be getting. At any retailer I've ever worked for, if theres going to be something new, we knew it inside and out before it was even remotely available to customers. So imagine my frustration when I was searching for this palette - having already seen at least 5 blogs with in depth reviews and swatches, along with Sephora's own website noting that this was already available to buy in store - and that there were some available in my local store. But when I actually go to buy the palette I am not only unable to find it, but the sales associates have NO IDEA what product I'm talking about? What???

So I waited about a week and a half and found this at a Sephora inside JCP instead - which even if this location carries less product, I get INCREDIBLY superior customer service to my much larger (metropolitan area) store.

Just my frustrations...If you're still here, read onto the review!

As with the other READY 8.0 Eyeshadow Palette I've tried (The September Issue, reviewed here), the palette itself is held in a highly reflective, metallic plastic case that is basically mirrored. This one is gold rather than the silver of the previous one. It looks quite nice and luxurious, but it is definitely fingerprint city! The size of the palette is quite small - its almost the size of my hand. 

All shades are labeled on the back rather than in the actual palette.

The eight eyeshadows are organized in rows of four, and there is a full sized mirror in the top lid. The mirror has some suspension to it so it doesn't just flop down, which is useful if you're on the go and need to use the mirror in this to do your makeup - you won't need to prop it up against something. 

From left to right, the top row shades are - 

Boss Lady - a pale vanilla, very similar to my skintone, with very fine microglitter. The microglitter makes it a little to apparent as a brow highlight, but it works great as a very soft lid color or built up in the inner corner for some shimmer. I was impressed that there was literally no glittery  fallout with this shade!

Moneymaker - a matte khaki gray shade, quite similar to MAC Coquette (maybe a touch darker). Its a really creamy matte and not chalky at all.

Schmooze - a light, taupey bronze shade with a good amount of metallic shimmer, but no glitter. This one is super reflective and buttery.

Boardroom - an espresso matte. Slightly chalky, but not so much that I can't work with it. It has a slight warm, reddish quality without being too warm.

From left to right the bottom row shades are - 

Exec - a gunmetal gray with very subtle purple tones and the same kind of fine microglitter that Boss Lady had; and the lack of fallout. This one is also super soft and almost has a subdued metallic quality to it.

Payday - a pale, gray taupe shade with a matte finish. Incredible pigmentation and blendability. Its like butter. LOVE. (And, you know, its taupe, so...)

Magnate - a champagne shade with a golden sheen to it. Great pigmentation and nice metallic quality to it.

Get Ahead - a matte, dark, brownish taupey shade. Same qualities of Payday. Super buttery and blendable and alltogether goodness.

The major thing about this palette was; do I really need another neutral palette? Not really - and this one had an especially similar feel to it as the Urban Decay Naked 2 did, in that it was mostly cool toned. However, the quality of this one across the board made it a must have. My favorite shades are Payday, Exec, Get Ahead and Schmooze, and I only really have mild complaints about Boardroom, which could have been better.

Overall:

Pros - 

- 7/8 shades had great pigmentation.

- Cooler toned neutral option

- Glitter shades did not have fallout.

Cons - 

- Boardroom was a bit chalky.

The only thing holding this palette back from a 10/10 is the chalkiness of Boardroom, but despite that one shortcoming, Power Neutrals is a pretty darn great palette.

9.5/10

February Favorites!

I feel like February broke the rut of beauty indifference that I was in during January. And I'm totally okay with that.

Eyes;

The palettes are NARS And God Created Woman and bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 8.0 in The September Issue. Both have phenomenal pigmentation and gave my Naked Palettes a bit of a break. I've also been using the NYX Nude Matte Eyeshadow in Confession a whole lot.

Cheeks;

NARS Blush in Seduction. This one is intense, but I love it. When applied properly its really stunning.

Face;

I branched out and tried a new foundation this month, Neutrogena Shine Control Makeup. I was getting frustrated with Revlon Colorstay Whipped, so I wanted something with a completely different. This has a thin consistency and dries down pretty quickly, but is actually really buildable. This keeps my oily skin at bay a little bit longer than most other foundations that I've tried. Since my skin has been in rare form lately (2013 has been a bit on the stressful side thusfar) I decided to try the Physicians Formula Conceal Rx Physicians Strength Concealer in Soft Green. This concealer is SUPER pigmented, blends well and does wonders for covering my blemishes and red splotches on my cheeks.

Lips;

I went through a stage in December/January where I did not feel like wearing a bold lip in the least. That ship has far since sailed; I was really loving MAC Daddy's Little Girl and MAC Diva this month. I also stumbled across a Bath And Body Works Liplicious Lipgloss in Blood Orange; Its sheer but gives a bit of a pinkish-red hue to my lips with a bit of multi hued sparkle. I LOVE the flavor; probably why I purchased it..

Body;

I've been definitely breaking out of winter in terms fragrance this month. I've really been liking the PINK Spring Break by Victoria's Secret in Jasmine Lime (which is Jasmine and Lime...) and Bath and Body Works Daisy Dreamgirl (which has clementine, star daisies and sandalwood). I also picked up The Body Shop Hand Cream in Absinthe, and I'm already in love. Its not too thick and doesn't leave my hands too slick and feels cool when applied. 

Good month for beauty; things are looking up!

Review - bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 8.0 in The September Issue

Note - I purchased this at Sephora on sale for $25 about a month ago. The website has it listed as full price, but still at Limited Edition. Check your local store for details.

Whenever I think bareMinerals, I honestly just think "face". I remember when the Mineral Veil launched and everyone thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Now when I think bareMinerals, its usually more along the lines of "HOLY CRAP THEIR EYESHADOWS". I don't know how they're doing it, but bareMinerals seems to  have one  of the best pressed shadow formulas on the market right now.

The Ready 8.0 Palette comes in a metallic silver case that one, will hold every single fingerprint (I swear you don't even have to touch it. You just have to think about touching it.) and almost makes the full size mirror in the lid superfluous. There is also a double sided travel sized brush that I'll probably never use. 

Now to the impeccable shadows. The top row, from L to R are;

Couture, which bareMinerals calls a "glimmering clove". Its a slightly bronze, cool toned brown, and really stunning on the lid. 

Silhouette, an "antique white" and I guess antique means slightly golden white. Its actually really different from anything in my collection.

Statement, which is a "vibrant orchid". It is a matte magenta/orchid with a little bit of glitter that neither really translates to the lid or causes any fallout. It most definitely is vibrant, but was a slight touch chalky (I've seen much worse, though).

Prêt-à-Porter (translates to Ready To Wear.) is a "sunbaked gold"' and is literally flawless. It is the most buttery, pigmented shadow of the bunch, and maybe of my collection. It is similar to Half Baked by Urban Decay but superior to it.

The bottom row, from L to R are;

Três Chic, which is a "apricot creme". It is matte, and is like a light mustard shade. It is far more flattering than I anticipated an is one of the softest mattes I've tried.

Editors Pick is a "metallic teal". It leans more true teal than blue teal or emerald teal, which sets it apart from other shades in my collection, like Urban Decay Loaded (which is more emerald teal). It was nearly as buttery as Prêt-à-Porter, but had a nice, subdued quality to it.

Glitterati is a "shimmering pink". Its a champagne pink and is pretty light. It warms up a lot on the lid and would pair well with MAC Expensive Pink.

Ensemble is described as the "deepest eggplant". Its very unique because it reads very brown on the skin with a hint of aubergine that makes it really special. Because of that, I really don't have anything similar in my stash. It is a matte.

Overall;

Pros:

 - Phenomenal pigmentation.

 - Mix of mattes and shimmers.

 - No fallout. 

 - Range of colors and looks.

Cons:

 - Packaging holds fingerprints very easily.

This is literally one of the best beauty products in my collection. It even comes with a step by step guide for three looks for those of use who are less than creative, but I can definitely see a lot of people having fun with the mix of shades in this palette. Flawless execution, bareMinerals!

10/10 - Highly recommend!