Holiday 2017: Time to Celebrate!

Good Morning, lovelies!


Grab a cup of coffee, and let's talk about some causes for celebration- and what's coming up in this space.

First, I want to say thank you to everyone. I've been blogging on and off for over four years and recently hit a milestone- 100,000 views! It's humbling to know that over the course of the lifespan of this blog, 100,000 people have read my words and seen my photographs.

It seems like a great way to celebrate is to double down and go all-in on Holiday. Shall we?

One of my favorite holidays is very soon- the Sephora VIB Sale. I'll share my own personal wishlist later today, and I'll share my picks as a bonus post sometime this week.

However, I wanted to share what I'm working on- the amount of holiday products I'm reviewing. If there's something that you're really looking to see, let me know and I'll push the post.

• Kat Von D Saint and Sinner Palette
• Becca Apres Ski Eyeshadow Palette
• Becca Apres Ski Face Palette
• Cargo Emerald City Palette
• Butter London Majesty's Metals Glazen Eye Gloss Kit
• All 6 LORAC Mod Goddess Alter Ego Lip Sets
• Too Faced Unicorn Survival Kit
• Hourglass Confession Lip Coffret
• Urban Decay Heavy Metals Eyeshadow Palette
• Essence The Metals Eyeshadows
• Not holiday, but 2 more Kiko Fall 2.0 Eyeshadows
• Fenty Beauty Holiday Lipstick
• Bite Beauty Agave Lip Kit
• Dior Holiday Nail Polish

I know, right? At a time when I'm going nuts in my non-online world with work. I'm also working on all of these reviews. They'll all be out shortly- just let me know in what order you'd like them. I may have blown a bunch of Ulta points as well.

Cheers to 100K, and onward and upward! As I mentioned, I'll have two Sephora posts this week- and my Viseart Friday. Other than that, I'll try to finish up the Fall releases but it's Holiday baby!

MAC Snow Ball Eye Bag in Smoky Gold for Holiday 2017

And hello my lovelies!

Welcome back to Holiday 2017. Sorry that I had to use a bit of filler, but this week has been insane. Heck, just look at my Instagram regarding this very post to see what's up. I had this on my eyes and photographed by a few minutes after 5AM.

Let's talk about my final selection from the MAC Snow Ball Collection-the Eye Bag in Smoky Gold. As an aside, I know that's descriptive, but I hate the name. This comes with three products in a gorgeous makeup bag for $39.50. There are two versions of this- Smoky Gold and Smoky Pink. This is being widely released on Thursday, November 2 as part of Phase II of MAC Snow Ball Holiday 2017 collection.

So, let's talk about what you get for your $39.50. I tend to find the eye kits one of the better values (if the products perform).

First, you receive a pair of Extra Dimension Eyeshadows in Just Gleaming and Snowdusk in one of those pre-made MAC duos.

Comparing the size of the pan, you receive the same amount as the singles, which normally retail for $20 each. And these come with the gorgeous snowflake stamping as well.

I thought these two corresponded really well with the singles at the event, hence why I picked this up. Just Gleaming is a pretty champagne gold color, and Snowdusk is a gorgeous taupey brown that's hitting those cool-toned notes for me.

Like the singles, here's a finger swatch:

No, not the most original shades but they're so pretty to have.  I think they're very wearable.

Now, let's talk about when I tested the shadows. Admittedly, these got a one-day test, with Glitter Glue on my lid, and without primer in the inner corner.

These are really stiff and produce a lot of fallout for this formula. Whereas the singles just glide like butter, I had to be careful with these and ultimately ended up foiling them. I honestly don't mind, but I feel it's significant enough to provide a consumer warning. I've never ran into this with the Extra Dimension eyeshadow before- I'm used to them being almost creamy. Hmm.

The day that I tested these I put Snowdusk all over my lid, with just a little bit of Just Gleaming on the inner part of the lid and a bit of inner corner highlight. In case you're wondering, I paired this with the top row of the Viseart Cool Matte eyeshadow palette.

Next up, you receive a Technakohl Liner Kajal in Photogravure.

This is the same size as the ones normally released, and is a part of the permanent collection.

This is a totally wearable dark brown- I've been testing it on the lower lashline, and actually abandoned black upper liner one day to see how it performed up there. It's not my holy grail, but it's a nice formula. And the color's just a great, wearable shade.

I think the best review I can give is that as someone with way too many brown liners, I'd repurchase. I've been testing this off and on for the entire work week, unlike the shadows. It's good.

So far, so good with this set!


The final product in the bag is the In Extreme Dimension Lash Mascara, which normally retails for $22.

I'm going to point you to the brand for photos of the wand, as I'm not going to open this guy up until I'm ready to start using it. Sorry, but I don't want to be wasteful of mascara. I have used the formula before- be careful, as a little goes a long way with this rubber wand.

We're at a total value of $79.50 for the contents of the bag.

Now, let's talk about the bag itself.

It's silver with a lace overlay and beautiful. It's worth a few dollars at the very least. We're already at double the price-that's the range of value that I generally look for in a value set.

In short, I think this is a great kit and it would make a fantastic gift. Although I'm done purchasing from what I consider to be one of the best collections of the season, I hope that there's a full restock and everyone gets to enjoy it as well. I'm feeling very festive these days!

Viseart Friday: Cool Mattes Eyeshadow Palette

Last week, we took it fiery hot with Viseart Friday- so let's take it cool today.

Say hello to Viseart's Cool Matte palette. I know I've mentioned quite a few times that I'm feeling cool tones right now, so I'm loving this palette.

You get 24g for $80 in the form of 12 magnetic, removable pans (just like the others).

Let's open that lid and see how Viseart does cool tones.

Yes, there's a strong purple element in this palette. Any questions on why I like it so much?  And if you're thinking it would pair well with the Lila palette, you wouldn't be wrong.

Row 1- the light one- does have some surprising depth to it.

I love using these as transition shades in the crease.

Row 2 has a shocking miss.

Any guesses?  Spoiler: it's the pink.

Yes, the pink is that bad. I think it's the worst performing shade that I own overall. My photography makes it look less patchy and unpigmented than it really is.


Row 3 is back to lovely, darker shades.

They all perform wonderfully.

I'm still struggling to figure out how to wear the blue, but it's calling my name.

I'm already biased towards the cool tones as of late, but this palette is gorgeous. I'm willing to overlook the poorly-performing pink for the rest of these lovely, moody shades.

Natasha Denona Sunset Palete

Even though I've had this for awhile, this post is going up today because it's back (and permanent) as of this week.

The infamous Natasha Denona Sunset palette retails for $129 and contains 15 warm-toned shadows that weigh in at 2.5g each. They're made in Italy- and the most beautiful on the market.

Warning: used palette ahead.

This is by far the most expensive of the warm palettes on the market, and it sold out so quickly that I've quietly used it behind the scenes. It felt in poor taste to share it. But Natasha Denona heard the pleas- and it's back. My personal theory is that the success of and demand for this palette helped to bring Lila out as permanent from the start- but I can't prove that.

Let's take a closer look:

I'm going to handle this a little differently than I normally do.

Row 1:

Out of these, Sinai is pretty blended into a number of looks, and Mandarine pulls more orange in the pan. I have to say that Ice Gold is gorgeous in the inner corner. Bronzage is also a beautiful lid shade. Atmosphere is nice and satiny, but not that different in my collection.


Row 2:

Sundazed and Aubade are both very pigmented and soft metallic lid shades- they bring a lot of glitz to the party. Terra's subtle sheen is sophisticated. Matte Horizon is also nice to work with. I find Vulcano a bit underwhelming to be honest. It does build up.

Row 3:

The final row has two of my favorite shades in the palette- and these are all really well performing. Morgana is my favorite shade in the palette and is stunning on the lid. Sol is another stunner. Bermuda is a workhorse in this palette. Panjin and Igneous are also nice mattes.

Overall, I like having this in my collection. Is it a must-have? Not at $129. But is it beautiful and wonderful to have? Yes. I think it performs the best out of all of the recent warm palettes- and Sol makes my heart warm.

MAC Snow Ball Collection for Holiday 2017: The Extra Dimension Eyeshadows

I almost feel guilty reviewing these shadows because they were blink and you've missed them limited.

Remember how I was complaining after having gone to the preview event? Luckily, I had a contact hook a sister up. I was one of few people to have the opportunity to purchase all five shades- and I did. Please note that I'm not bragging, nor am I trying to rub in that I got such limited items. I'm so sorry that these were hard to get because they're honestly some of the best that MAC has put out in years.

Let's just hope for a restock. This is the product page.

I'm honestly posting because not even the great Temptalia has all five- and they're sitting in front of me. Since I have a blog, I feel a responsibility to do it.

Each of these shadows contain 1.3g/0.04oz of product, and they retail for $20 each. This is the same as the permanent collection Extra Dimension Eyeshadow that I have in front of me. They're in stunning cracked gold packaging- similar to the cracked rose gold that I featured in this post.


Let's look at these breathtaking shades. We'll go lightest-darkest. One key caveat here is that these are finger swatches.

First up is Frostwinked.

According to MAC, this is "white with silver pearl."

Initially, I waffled on this shade. It's really hard to see on my skin, but it's frosty and pretty. I love this in the inner corner. I think this would be stunning on deeper skintones with a white base.

I should also try this as a highlight, right? It's very pretty and sparkly.

Next up is Delicate Drift.

According to MAC, this is "light pink with sparkle."

This is one of the more subtle shades in the collection- and other one that's tough to capture.

I see gold and pink, but this isn't an overly sparkly shade. It's pretty and subtle- but not breathtakingly original. I do think I could wear this to work on my lids. And might.

Next up is Stylishly Merry.

According to MAC, this is "gold shimmer."

MAC's underselling this. Stylishly Merry is one of the most beautiful eyeshadows I've ever seen- and the troublemaker of the collection. This was the first to sell out. It's a multichrome on my skin. It flashes between pink, gold, and even a slight greeny shift in the middle. When I was at the event, someone with a dark skintone swatched it next to me and it looked far more gold on her- it's pinky on me. I put this on my lids ASAP. It works wonderfully, even not foiled. I just use a 228 and pat over Too Faced Glitter Glue (my new go-to routine for most sparkly shades). I'm OBSESSED with this shadow.

My swatches don't do it justice. I'll try to edit in an "on-the-eye" photo when I next wear it (currently testing other holiday releases, and it's way too sparkly for M-F). If I wasn't so tired, I'd have some words to describe what this does to me. It makes me feel things, ok?

Next up is It's Snowing.

According to MAC, this is "pinky purple shimmer."

This is another chameleon shade to me. At the launch event, I really thought this was a light taupey brown- a warm one at that. I never would've called it pinky. But I see pink in this really smooth shade in some lights.

But I think you see brown in this swatch, too.

This is a buttery smooth shade that I think is work-appropriate and less bling. Think smooth jazz vs pop. It's so pretty and shifts in shade just a bit.

Last up is Starry, Starry Nights.

According to MAC, this is "black with silver sparkle."

For once, I totally agree with MAC.

Not the most original shade, but it's going to be fun to play with it in this formula. I saw a MAC MUA sheer it out all over (so pretty), and I'm going to try to replicate the look some upcoming weekend. It's oddly festive.

Here's a group swatch:

Obviously, the bottom is under cold studio lighting.

I normally don't like to show items that aren't for sale, but I hope that these swatches are helpful. I can't wait to play with these more, but I'm testing a palette this week for the blog- and will be doing evening looks with my Use them ALL palettes. This collection totally screams holiday to me.

If you get the chance to pick any of them up, I highly recommend these. I feel guilty to love these, but they're so fun.

Did you get your hands on these?