American Dream by NARS

First things first, I love neutral colors and I love palettes. So it was pretty easy for me to decide to buy the new American Dream palette from NARS.

The American Dream Palette contains six eyeshadows and I am pretty sure that you can find all the colors in the permanent line. Some colors are part of duos and others are single eyeshadows. It contains six colors and they are all neutrals and perfect for fall.
This palette is also great if you are new to NARS, like me, and you are interested to try some of their eyeshadows. If you have a collection of NARS already you might want to take a look at your collection to prevent you from buying duplicates.

I only own one single eyeshadow from NARS and that is Lola Lola. This is one of my favorite eyeshadows in my collection so I had high hopes for the American Dream Palette.

I haven't used this palette on my eyes yet but I have made a rather pitiful attempt at photographing swatches of the colors. So far I think they are pigmented especially the shadows on the bottom row. Two shadows seems a little bit grainy and chalky and was harder to swatch and it was the lightest Bellissima (I) and the rose colored Silk Road(II). The others were easy to swatch and Galapagos seems to be the most pigmented.

So far I think that Alahambra (II), Galapagos and Tzarine (II) are going to be my favorites but this might change when I start to use them on my eyes. 

Here is my attempt a photographing swatches. I used Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Eyeshadow Insurance in Eden as a base.

I will try to make some makeup looks using the palette but I have to get rid of my cold first. Because right now I am not feeling my best and my eyes has that watery look that you get when you are sick.


 

New Stuff from Las Vegas

A while back ago I went on vacation to Las Vegas. It was my first time in Vegas and I loved it. I flew in a helicopter to the Grand Canyon, toured the Hoover Dam and just had lots of fun. I also managed do a little bit of shopping. If you like to shop I have to say that Las Vegas is definitely the place for you. You can buy anything from luxury designers and brands to drugstore brands, all of it gathered along The Strip.

So here's my little result of my shopping in Vegas. I tried to focus on brands that I can't buy here in Sweden and on things that I heard a lot of good things about.

First I went to Sephora and I picked up:

Two lip products from Buxom, The Big & Healthy Lip Cream in White Russian and Big & Healthy Lip Stick in London. Both of these are nice neutral pink tones and they definitely have that sting that lip plumpers have.

LipSurgence Natural Lip Stain in Amused from Tarte. This is a hot pink lip stain and this is actually a lot darker that I thought when I swatched it in the store.

I also picked up a Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Exposed also from Tarte. This is a very nice neautral pink color and it has had very good reviews by beauty gurus on YouTube. I like it because it gives the cheeks a nice pinkish flush without being to pink.

A Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment from Fresh. This has a slight tint to it and a lovely citrus scent. I have used this a couple of times and I like it but it is nothing super special.

The last thing was actually a gift from my traveling companion and it was a set of Trend Tips from O.P.I. These are called Real Lacquer Strips and the ones that I received were very cute pink camouflage ones. I can't wait to use these but I'll have to wait until my summer vacation since they wouldn't last 10 seconds on my job.

I also went to Walgreens and picked up some drugstore makeup:

I picked up a new Full 'n Soft Mascara from Maybelline in Very Black. I have tried this before and I liked it so I thought a would give it a go again.

Neutrogena SkinClearing Blemish Concealer in 09 Buff. I used this on my vacation to cover spots and I think it worked very well. For now it is a little bit too light but I think it will work great in the winter.

Two Revlon Lip Butters in Strawberry Shortcake and Cupcake two nice cool toned pink colors.

Revlon ColorStay LipLiner in Rose. This is a nice neutral lipliner that I think will work well with most lipcolors.

And the last thing that I bought was an Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles in 60 Brightener from Maybelline. I have tried the foundation from this line and like it so I thought I would try the concealer as well. Strangely the foundation can be bought here in Sweden but the other products from this line can't.

This is it when it comes to my little shopping confession. I will get back to you with pictures and review of the products when I have had a chance to wear them a bit. 

On my eyes: Just a simple EOTD

I have to admit that browns and neutrals are my favorite colors. I know I am boring but I love makeups like this, bright and light in the inner corner, a darker outer corner and crease, heavy black liner and nothing but mascara under the eye. Sometimes I even skip the mascara on the bottom lashes.


For this makeup I used the following products:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, The Original
Make Up Store Eyeprimer Tinted
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Milk and Slate
Make Up Store Eyeshadows in Muffin and Tie
MAC eyeshadows in Handwritten, Wedge and Brulé
Make Up Store Cake Eyeliner in Black
Rimmel London Glam'Eyes Day 2 Night Mascara in Black



On my lips I am wearing my new lipstick from Clinique, The Almost lipstick in 06 Black Honey. This is a part of the Fall Collection from Clinique and apparently it is limited edition, which is a shame since this is a wonderful color.

This lipstick is quite sheer so it is more of a stain on the lips than an actual lipstick. I love this color and I have been using this constantly since I got it about a week ago. The color is excellent for fall but I think you can wear this all year round.

The only downside with this lipstick is that it feels a little bit dry and it has a tendency to accentuate the lines in your lip, but I can live with that.



All of the products mentioned were paid for with my own money and this is my own opinion.

Review: CoverGirl LashBlast Volume

Last year almost a year ago I picked up a couple of mascaras when I was on vacation in Hawaii. This was one of them, CoverGirl Lashblast Volume. I have wanted to try this mascara for such a long time. I have heard a lot of good things from beauty gurus on Youtube about the mascara so my expectations was quite high.

The nail polish that I 'm wearing in the picture is a Nail Paint from
Barry M in the color 161 Vivid Purple

First of all I do like this mascara and the results that it gives. My lashes look fuller and the mascara gives them a dark black color. The application is easy and there is no need to comb through the lashes after you have applied it, which is definitely a good thing.




The brush is made out of rubber and is on the larger side. It has shorter bristles at the end making it easy to apply the mascara at the inner and outer lashes.


But....

There is one thing that I don't like and it is that it has a tendency to flake. The fallout isn't massive but there are always some black flakes under my eye after a day of work. The flaking start quite early in the day as well. At first I thought it might be that I started using this during the warmest days of summer but now when it's fall and the days are cooler, the result is the same.

Overall Grade:

PRODUCT: This is a good drugstore mascara that give good results but it has a tendency to flake.
PACKAGING: A bright orange mascara tube. Nothing special but the color makes it easy to find in the makeup bag.
APPLICATION: the mascara applies without any clumps and it gives a good result without the need to comb through the lashes with a mascara comb.
SCENT: I quite strong synthetic almost chemical scent.



I paid for this product with my own money and it is my own opinion.

On my Lips: Bright lips with NYX Sunflower

When I placed an order from Cherryculture a while back ago I order two round lipsticks from NYX Cosmetics, Thalia and Sunflower. While Thalia wasn't my cup of tea, Sunflower really surprised me. The color is a bright coral red with a frost finish, and it really makes a statement on the lips. I normally don't wear bright lip colors, I'm more of a pale pink/nude color kind of a girl but I can actually see myself wearing this.


In this picture I paired it with a lip pencil in the color Hot Red also from NYX Cosmetics and they work really well together.

On my nails: Come To Poppy by O.P.I

It is a beautiful fall day here today and I am stuck inside sick with a cold. So I felt like cheering myself up and paint my nails. I went for a summery pink, Come To Poppy from the Nice Stems Collection.


This is as it sounds a poppy color pink or if you will a pink coral color. It has some fine shimmer in it making it look like a pearl finish. I thought I would love this color and it is a wonderful pink but I don't know...It feels kind of ordinary to me. It is a little strange that I feel this way since this is the reason why I bought the Nice Stems mini set, I wanted to add some nice pinks in my collection.

I felt that it needed a little bit extra something so I applied the glitter/flake polish, I Lily Love You form the same set on top of my ring fingers. I also put a little dot of this polish on my other nails to tie it all together.

In retrospect I would probably skip the little dots on the rest of the fingers since it looks a little bit odd.


Update: I have fallen in love with the glitter polish, I Lily Love You and I tried to capture all of the beautiful colors that the glitter/flakes have in this polish. This polish is really hard to capture in a photo but hopefully this gives you an idea of how beautiful it is.

The Crazy Nail Polish Lady

Yepp that's me. I guess I got a little bit nail polish crazy and I ordered three mini collection sets from BeautyBay.com. I wonder if the fact that they are minis is a good excuse for buying a total of 12 bottles of nail polish. I say yes it is.


All three sets are summer collections and I was looking for some good pinks to add to my collection. The Summer Collection set from Essie was my venture into more brighter colors and a little bonus.
I was a little bit surprised at how small the O.P.I bottles were. I new that they were 3.75 ml each but I didn't realize that way were as small as they are, true minis I would say.
An other thing that I didn't like with the O.P.I minis was that the bottles aren't labeled with the name of the polish. Instead the name is written on the box that they came in forcing you to keep the boxes and be careful not to mix up the bottles. I didn't realize this at first so I pulled out all of the bottles from the Nice Stems collection out of the box just to realize that they weren't labeled.
The Essie mini collection contained larger bottles, 5 ml each and the bottles were also labeled. The Essie Mini collection was also cheaper than the O.P.I sets and did cost £10.75 were as the O.P.I sets cost £12.75 making the Essie Mini Set a better deal.
I apologize for the horrible state of my nails and hands in the pictures below. I have worked a lot with my hands lately and it has definitely taken its toll on my hands and nails.
The Nice Stems Collection by O.P.I
This collection contains three shimmer pink nail polishes and one glitter polish. I applied two coats of polish on every nail.

From Left to Right: Play the Peonies (thumb), Come To Poppy,
Be a Dal-ia Won't You, I Lily Love You and
I Lily Love You On Top Of Play the Peonies.

Play the Peonies is a very light almost white shimmery pink. I liked this because it is so light that it almost looks white but the pink tones in the polish makes it more wearable than a white polish.
Come To Poppy is a pink that leans towards Coral. It has the same shimmer quality as Play the Peonies. This is my favorite out of this set as it applies very well and I don't own any colors that look like this.
Be a Dahl-ia Won't You is a fushia pink with a more glittery effect to it. It looks like a foil to me. This is quite sheer so you may need to apply three coats of this to make it more opaque. I like this color but it doesn't feel very unique to me.
I Lily Love You is a glitter/flake polish in a transparent pink base. This works best when it is layered. I layered it over Play the Peonies in the picture but I think it would work better over Come to Poppy or Be a Dahl-ia Won't You since I think that the glitter disappeared a little on the light base.
Femme De Cirque by O.P.I
This collections consists of very soft nudes and pinks and one shimmery top coat. These colors are very sheer and I needed three coats to make them show up on the nail. Step Right Up! is more opaque than the other but also a little difficult to apply.

From Left to Right: So Many Clowns... So Little Time,
In The Spot-Light Pink, Step Right Up! and I Juggle...Men

So Many Clowns... So Little Time is a creamy nude and also my favorite in this set. When I applied the first coat I couldn't make out the color at all but this polish is build-able and after three coats it became a nice milky nude color.

In the Spot-Light Pink is the sheerest out of the three colors and it is difficult to make out even after three coats but the effect is very nice, it makes your nails look more polished and nice.

Step Right Up! is the problem child in this set. It is more opaque than the others but I had difficulties making it even on the nail. There is also something with this color that makes it a little bit odd. I think it should be even more opaque than it is. Even after three coats the nail line is still visible and it looks like I haven't put on enough coats.

I Juggle...Men is a glitter top coat with iridescent sparkles. It looks amazing in the bottle as it has a beautiful blue iridescence to it. But when you apply it to the nail the shimmer is barely noticeable. I used two coats on the nail and you can detect some sparkles in the close up picture below. I think I have to play with this some more before I make up my mind about it.

From Left To Right Step Right Up! and I Juggle...Men

The Essie Summer Collection 2011

This is the brighter collection that I added as a little bonus to myself when I made the order. There were two colors that I was interested in trying and that was Braziliant and Smooth Sailing. I applied two coats on every nail except for Super Bossa Nova that only needed one coat.

From Left to Right: Smooth Sailing, Meet Me At Sunset
and Super Bossa Nova.

Smooth Sailing is one of my favorites in this set. It is a periwinkle/lavender blue with silver sparkles in it. It looks amazing on the nail and the shimmer really stands out. This was very easy to apply and after two coats it looked perfect.

Meet Me At Sunset is a bright glossy orange creme that leans towards read. This was a little bit sheer but after two coats it looked okay. It isn't my favorite color in the set but I can see myself wearing this in late spring and during the summer.

Braziliant was one of the colors that I was most looking forward to. This is a orange color as well but with pink shimmer in it. I don't know why Essie decided to put two orange colors in this set but there is a difference between the two orange colors. The pink shimmer makes this color more coral and also it is a little bit lighter. This polish was very hard to work with and it was difficult to apply this evenly on the nail.

Super Bossa Nova is the star in this collection and I recommend this to everyone who is reading this blog. This is a dark shimmery fushia and it is very opaque. I only needed one coat. Color-wise it resembles Be a Dahl-ia Won't You from the Nice Stems collection but the formula is very different. This isn't as shimmery and it looks almost like a creme on the nails. I am thinking of layering Be a Dahl-ia Won't You on top of this one to make it more sparkly.

I feel a storm approaching on this blue day

I was bored today and when I'm bored I play with makeup. It all started with me deciding to do an eyemakeup using Barry M's Dazzledust in no. 10 Grey and when I started to go a little bit crazy.

A lot of bloggers often give their makeups a creative title so I decided to do the same so I called this makeup, "I feel a storm approaching on this blue day".



I have worked with this picture in Photoshop so don't take it to seriously it is just here for some inspiration and fun.

Two days and two different mascaras

When I get ready for work I like to keep my makeup simple. I most often do not have the time in the morning to do something complicated and I think that simple is the best way to do your makeup for work. I feel that simple makeup most often looks the best after a day of work and stand the test of time better.

Day 1

I kept the eyemakeup very neutral with eyeshadows from the Naked Palette by Urban Decay. I did choose the most boring colors in the palette, Naked and Buck. I put Naked on the lid and used Buck as an eyeliner. This combination was definitely inspired by Laura who wrote about this in her blog Buy Now, Blog Later.

I also wore one of my Asian mascaras, The Super Dolly Powerful Curling Mascara by Sasatinnie for the first time. LisaLisaD1 on YouTube has talked about a mascara with a comb from Maybelline and how she really like this mascara and I became curious and wanted to try one myself. I remembered that I had a mascara with a comb instead of a brush from my trip to Hong Kong. This was actually why I bought it, I was intrigued by the comb.
I will write a full review on this but for now I can tell you that this stays put all day and is a pain to remove.

Day 2

I went for a subtle pink eye and used the NYX eyeshadow in Platinum Pink and a brown liner, the Cream Shaper For Eyes in 05 Chocolate Lustre from Clinique. The Platinum Pink eyeshadow from NYX wasn't a great hit. The color is lovely, a silverish pink but it has some chunky glitter that causes some major fallout action. I had glitter all over and you can actually see it in the pictures. The glitter has no sparkle to it and it is quite dull so all you see is some white dots all over my face.
For mascara I used the LashBlast Volume by CoverGirl. I really like this mascara and I like the volume it gives my lashes. But it has a tendency to flake during the day and in the evening I can see some black flakes under my eyes.

This is it for now. Two not so inspiring makeup looks but very practical for work. I have come to the realization though that a really good mascara can take your makeup to the next level.


All products mentioned was paid for with my own money and all opinions are my own.

On my eyes: Barry's Brass

I was right in my last post, The Dazzle Dust in no. 100 (Brass) by Barry M is a wonderful eyeshadow. The color is just like its name, brass but with some gold shimmer in it, without the chunky glitter.


This makeup is actually a fail and I blame it on the Liquid Eye Liner from Stila. This isn't one of my favorites, quite the opposite in fact. I really hate this, it is very runny and it smudges. After I had curled and applied my mascara I noticed that half of the liner was missing. I don't now where it went but it was completely gone. I had to fill in the liner again but this time it smeared leaving me with a very uneven and ugly line. I am not recommending this liner at all.

For this makeup I used the following products:

Make Up Store Tinted Eyeprimer as a base.
MAC eyeshadow in Brulé all over the lid area.
Barry M Dazzle Dust in no.100 on the lid and under the eyes.
MAC eyeshadow in Solar White as a inner corner highlight and on browbone.
MAC eyeshadow in Soft Brown in the crease.
Stila Liquid Eye Liner in black.
CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara.

London Shopping: Beauty Stuff

It feels like ages ago since my last post but I finally got myself to sit down and write this post.


I did some beauty shopping in London and I made a visit to Boots and a visit to Superdrug. I have been to Boots many times before and it is one of my favorite places to go when it comes to beauty shopping. It was however my first visit to Superdrug and I have to say I like this store a lot.

I picked up a Vichy Dermablend Foundation in shade no 15 Opal in Boots. I think this was their lightest shade and this is a little bit too light for me now but I think it will look good on me in the fall when my tan starts to fade. I was surprised at how dark the shades of this foundation was and I do believe that people with fair skin will have a problem finding a shade in this foundation.


In Superdrug I picked up two blush/highlighter compacts from Collection 2000. These are called Shimmer Shades and I picked up both of the colors that were available, Blushalicious (on the right in the picture) and Way To Glow (on the left side). The packaging feels very cheap and they are cheap they cost less than £5, but the product is actually quite good. These are shimmer products as the name states but they aren't super glittery. I have used the dark bronze shade in Way To Glow and it gave my cheekbones a very nice bronze glow.

The thing that made me buy these is that Blushalicious seems to be a good dupe for Deep Throat from NARS. I don't own this blush but the Yummy Mummy's Beauty Blog has compared the two blushes and found them very similar.


I also bought two Dazzle Dusts by Barry M , no.100 (Brass) and no. 10 (Grey). These are very shimmery but highly pigmented eye shadow pigments. I haven't had the time to try these yet but I think that no. 100 will be a favorite. It is simply beautiful and it is the color of brass but with some gold in it.


I couldn't go to London without taking a look at the popular and highly raved about palettes from Sleek. There was a lot of colorfull palettes to choose from but I choosed a more neautral colored palette called Storm. I fell for the colors on the bottom row of the palette, the dark blue, dark green and grey color. I think these would look great as a liner together with the more neutral colors in the palette. Most of the colors in this palette are shimmery but there are two matte ones in here as well, a nude and a dark brown.


The last things that I picked up in London was some products from Soap and Glory. Boots had a deal going on, buy 3 pay for 2 so I picked up three bodycare items. I have heard a lot of good things about their Righteous Butter so picked one up. I also bought two body scrubs, Flake Away and Some Like it Hot Body Softening Thermal Scrub. I have to say that these products smell amazing.

That was basically everything that was beauty related that I bought in London. Stay tuned for some reviews and eye makeups that will be coming up. Hopefully it won't take me forever to write my next post.

On my eyes: I cannot get enough

Guess what, I used the Naked Palette again. It seems like I cannot get enough of this palette. It is so easy to use and the shadows are very easy to work with.



I think that the eyeshadow Toasted, which I am wearing on my lid is starting to become a favorite of mine. This is a rosy bronze color and it looks so beautiful on the eye. I decided to darken it up in the crease with Creep, shimmery black.

I tried using the eyeshadow Buck to fill in my eyebrows but this didn't work at all. The color is so wrong for my eyebrows and it gave them a very strange tint. I am not doing that again.

For this makeup I used the following products:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, the original color.
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Milk and Slate
Urban Decay Naked Palette and I used the following eyeshadows, Virgin, Sin, Half Baked, Dark Horse, Toasted and Creep.
Stila Liquid Eye Liner
Cover Girl LashBlast Volume Mascara

Face:
Clinique Superbalanced Makeup Foundation in 27 Alabaster (N)
Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
Everyday Minerals Concealer in Sunlight
Lily Lolo Mineral Bronzer in Waikiki as a cheek bone highlight.
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Lush- Light Bronze
NYX Mosaic Powder in Dare

Summer nails

When I think of summer I think of warm weather and sun. I also think of bright colors and bronzed skin. When it comes to nail polish I think that this is the perfect time to be a little bit more daring and fun when it comes to colors.

Here are some of my picks for summertime.


Pastels are fun so I included two polishes from Isadora, 711 Miami Blue, a light pastel blue and 712 Ocean Drive a pastel mint. Both of these are inspired by the pastel colors that you can find in the Art Deco buildings in Miami.

When it comes to bright and fun colors I like to buy cheaper nail polish. The nail polish brand Depend is perfect when it comes to buy fun colors for less money. Their formula can be a hit or miss but the color selection is excellent.

The yellow polish no. 210 from Depend is my Chanel Mimosa substitute. Chanel Mimosa is a yellow color that Chanel released this spring and it became a nail polish that many wanted. I didn't want to spend that much on a yellow polish so I went for a shimmery yellow from Depend instead for the fraction of the cost.
I also picked up a bright orange no.124 and a neon pink no. 034. Neon pink is a great color for summer and bright orange seems to be a trend color this summer.

I also included two more classic colors that can be worn all year long but works great during the summer time. These two nail polish colors comes from O.P.I and one of them is a classic red called OPI Red and the other is Miami Beet, a mix between rasberry and beet color.

I hope that this post gave you some inspiration when it comes to choosing colors to wear on your nails this summers. Remember that there isn't really a right or wrong when it comes to makeup and I think that you should do what ever you want. It is more fun that way.



All of these products was paid for with my own money and it is my own opinion.

On my eyes: Some Smoke

I have a fondness for taupe eyeshadows. There is something about this color that draws me in and I simply can't resist buying this color over and over again.
I received my latest taupe when my mother started to subscribe to a magazine and received a gift with two Elizabeth Arden products. One of the items in the gift was the Color Intrigue Eyeshadow in Smoke 23.

This is what I am wearing on my eyes in this picture. The makeup looks a little bit darker in the picture that it does in real life.



For this makeup I used:

Eyes:
Makeup Store Eyeprimer, Tinted as a base.
Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow in Smoke 23.
Urban Decay Naked Palette, two shadows in Virgin and Sin.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero.
Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume Mascara in Very Black.
Isadora Eye Brow Lift & Define.

Face:
Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics Foundation in In The Buff as a foundation.
Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics Finishing Powder in Flawless Silk.
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Lush-Light Bronze, I love this powder/bronzer.
Everyday Minerals Concealer in Sunlight under my eyes
Make Up Store Cover All Mix pens.
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Radian Touch in no 2.

I have been looking at my pictures of my eye makeup on the blog and I think I need to make a visit to a makeup counter and ask them if they can teach me how to cover under eye shadows. Because I pile on products but still the shadows shows through. This annoys me when I try to take pictures because I feel that the shadows interfere with the eye makeup.


All of the product was paid for with my own money if not stated otherwise in the post. All of the opinions are my own.

Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara

This mascara has become one of my favorite mascaras. The only sad thing about this is that I can't buy it here in Sweden. This seems to be a mascara that only exists in The US and this makes me a little bit sad, because I want more.


The Full 'N Soft mascara did give some volume to my lashes without clumping them together. The brush is a "normal" type of mascara brush and I did find it hard to avoid mascara smudges on my lid. I didn't remove this little mess from the picture to show you how it looks after I applied it (click on the picture to see a larger image). I don't mind this since it is easy to correct but it can ruin a perfect eye makeup.


Overall grade: I like The Full 'N Soft Mascara by Maybelline a lot. I feel like it gives similar results as the Hypnôse Mascara from Lancôme but for a fraction of the price. It has become one of my favorite mascaras but it is hard to get hold of this mascara if you don't live in The Unites States.



I paid for this product with my own money and this is my own opinion.

Some Elizabeth Arden and an eyeshadow ramble.

My mother wanted to start to subscribe to Femina Magazine and I really wanted the gift. So she signed up for the magazine and I went for the gift. I love the gifts that you nowadays get when you start a subscription.

This time is was Elizabeth Arden products.

Color intrigue Eyeshadow in Smoke 23
High Shine Lip Gloss in Shimmering Pink o1

The lipgloss is a nice shimmery light pink. Nothing super unique but very wearable.

The eyeshadow in Smoke is a nice taupe, my favorite kind of color. It is similar to some other shades that I have that belong to the Taupe family.

Smoke resembles Satin Taupe from MAC, Burnt Bark from Max Factor and ME Brown 850 from Shu Uemura

Burnt Bark and Smoke are very similar, but the texture of Smoke is finer and a little bit more metallic.

ME Brown 850 is definitely more shimmery and has a little bit more silver and gray in it.

Satin Taupe is darker and more brown.

I was planning to do swatches but it didn't go so well because my camera wouldn't focus so I skipped the pictures.

It's finally mine....

....The Naked Palette by Urban Decay that is.


I have wanted this since it was first released in the United States. When I received an email from HQHair that they had it in stock for a limited amount of time, I ordered it right away.

It felt like it took forever to get here but I finally received it yesterday, it took about two weeks to get here. This is a long time since it normally takes about a week to receive stuff from the UK.

I haven' had time to use the palette yet but I will definitely do some looks with this. I like that it comes with a small tube of Primer Potion and a eyeshadow brush. When it first came out it had a double ended eyeliner pencil in the colors Zero and Whiskey. I already own Zero and I don't need another one so I prefer the brush. I think it is a full size brush so it is definitely a better deal.

It isn't available at HQHair anymore but if you want one check out BeautyBay.com they might still have it in stock