LORAC Mega Pro 4 Palette

It shouldn't be a surprise that I caved and purchased the all-new LORAC Mega Pro 4 palette for Holiday 2017.

(My blood boils talking about Holiday in September.)

This is also a rare mid-week posting for me because I know this is one of those big releases where it's better for me to get posts up sooner than later. Add in being ill (still not sure if it's allergies or ill, but there's a fever involved) and I had the time to do numerous looks in little time.

Once again, we have 32 shades (traditionally 16 matte/16 shimmer- but I quibble with this!) for $59. Unlike every other Pro-formula palette, my Mega Pro 4 did not come with anything else.

I actually spent about 5 minutes looking for the eye primer that has always come with every other LORAC palette. Apparently it's not included with this one. Not a big deal, but that's lost value. I purchased mine online from Ulta.

The exterior is a lovely salmon pink- which is going to get messy.

I reach for the Mega Pro 1 & Mega Pro 2 on a weekly- if not daily- basis. My LORAC Pro Palettes comprise the majority of palettes that live on the top of my desk for easy access. The formula is notorious for fallout but is also buttery and blendable and fantastic. In terms of what I use on a daily basis- LORAC is my go-to (followed by Viseart).

I have to be honest, I don't necessarily "get"this palette. I'm also not really that inspired, but I'll dig in and hopefully fall in love. I found the Mega Pro 3 to be meh and way too monochromatic last year (and I hated the white packaging); the Mega Pro 4 appeals to me more than the 3.

I'll also note that one shade (Dk Chocolate) arrived like this:

Hmmm... Although I'm willing to point the finger at UPS for that most likely.

Now, some swatches and initial notes on all shades. I'm trying something new here- let me know if you like it in the comments down below.

Row 1, Part I:

Note: I have NW13-15 skin so these are so hard to see.

Cotton: Swatch is 2 passes; fairly sheer
Flamingo: Very soft
Cool Taupe: Impressively pigmented, nice texture
Butterscotch: Great pigmentation, really creamy


Row 1, Part II:

Cedar: Nice pigmentation, not as much fallout as other shades
Mocha: Gorgeous. Nailed it with this shade. Pigmented, little fallout. Amazing.
Denim: Sheer and underwhelming
Shadow: I like the pigmentation of this charcoal

Row 2, Part I:

Pink Peony: Pigmented but very dusty
Oat: Great shade; muted
Lt Sage: Quite sheer and disappointing
Sugar Cookie: WTF!! This is a SHIMMERY dove grey amongst the mattes!

Row 2, Part II:

Mahogany: Muted, not as much fallout as average
Blackberry: Good pigmentation, little fallout
Spice: Another perfect formula shade
Dk Chocolate: Nice Pigmentation

Row 3, Part I:

Foam: Very soft and pigmented. Perfect inner corner shade
Honey: Very nice but we've seen this before
Pearl Slate: More transparent base
Moss: WTF. Light, patchy, a miss.

Row 3, Part II:

Steel Wool: In love.
Copper Pearl: One of the best performers but this is easier to perfect
Peacock: lovely and pigmented
Lagoon: Muted, disappointing. Grungy.


Row 4, Part I:

Unicorn: My lights wash it out a bit, but it's very light and a bit disappointing. It's pretty and soft- but not the wow type of color I was looking for.
Lotus: A little patchy, fallout city
Fairytale: Looks to have larger glitter- more like a pressed glitter than the others. Very soft, fallout, some texture but stunning.
Misty Mauve: Stiffer formula, not but that pigmented



Row 4, Part II:

Silver Fox: Performs well
Plum: Muted, not what you'd expect.
Vamp: Slightly patchy on application but you can work with it
Raven: Stunning


For those wondering, here's what my palette looked like after swatching:

That's about average for the line. Note how different Fairytale looks. If this is a new formula, I'm digging it.

I played with this palette over the course of a few days- it's what made me put the Natasha Denona Lila palette down. However, given my extreme familiarity with the formula, I could do multiple eye looks and only test one or two for wear time. I know what this should be.


I was dismayed to discover this isn't a one-palette look palette for me because there's no cream matte suitable for setting primer.

I did a number of looks but had fails with everything- from mascara transfer to bad blending... nothing's worth showing. I will say that I've done work-friendly, bold and glittery, and colorful looks from the palette.


I think this palette's a hit and miss. It's got a lot of those pastels that weren't the best from the Brunch palette earlier this year, but the deeper and richer shades that are in the brand's wheelhouse.


Bottom Line: I'm still not sure what LORAC was going for this year. If you're a collector of the series, you're going to buy it anyhow. It claims to be limited edition, but don't hold your breath on that. LORAC has proven over the past 12 months that it'll be back again and again. I recommend playing in-store to see if it's for you.

Glitter Tuesday Vol 1: Happy Birthday, America!

WOO! It's our nation's birthday, America, so let's take a long weekend and enjoy life!

And if you're not American, please just enjoy the glitter and my first attempt at drawing shapes on my eyes. WHAT? Please keep in mind your QBB is legally blind without her glasses. Double WHAT?

Let me take a moment to divert from the impending awesomeness to tell you how much better this post would've been if a company had shipped in a timely basis. I had planned to start a new series on this blog today that I've been dreaming about and feature the 2 new Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow shadows. And then Stila decided to take over a week to ship order #1. So, I started thinking about the best way to welcome Glitter Tuesdays to QBB, and then BOOM! I had a glittery American flag on my lid. WHOA. I did get them after I completed this look, naturally.

First of all, it takes a small army of products to do something fun:

Let me give you the step by step before I show my first real lid art attempt. Many of the products I used were limited edition, sorry!

1. Prime entire eye area with MAC Paint Pot in Painterly. Set with Kat Von D Bone down to crease, Kat Von D Linen in the crease and lid.

2. Take a small blending brush and work a mixture of Kat Von D Bone and Kat Von D Suede into the crease area to define the eye area.

3. Take NYX Eyeshadow Base in White with a small brush and cut the crease. Apply all over the eye.

4. Set with multiple layers of Kat Von D Linen. Don't stop until it's a bright white canvas. This is what you'll be building on.

5. Pick up a little bit of Giorgio Armani Liquid Eyeshadow in 2 on a tiny brush and pat onto the inner 1/3 of the lid. Build a nice consistent layer.

6. Immediately take a tiny brush and pick up Kat Von D Nebula and pack on top of the blue base.

7. Once that's all set, take a nail dotting tool, sanitize, and pick up a couple of flecks from Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Diamond Dog to create the "stars".

8. Set up an area with some Too Faced Glitter Glue on a palette, some MAC Fix+, and some Pat McGrath Venom Microfine Glitter. Work with 1 brush to slowly draw part of the straight line across the crease and immediately tap the glitter on. Build the solid line.

9. Repeat to create 2 more lines.

10. Pick up Kat Von D Suede & Bone on a small blender and buff any crease mistakes.

11. Get rid of fallout. Do your undereye concealer. (I used Tarte Shape Tape and set with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light)

12. Do your brows. I use a combo of Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow & Brow Whiz

13. Pick up Tom Ford Eye Defining Pencil in Navy Black. Line upper and lower 1/3. Pick up Sephora Collection Diamond Eyeliner in Swagga and line outer 2/3 upper/lower.

14. Inner corner highlight- MAC Silver Pigment.

15. Finish with L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise.


And here's the look!

Not perfect, but not bad for a first attempt, huh? Keep in mind I'm legally blind without glasses, too!

Now, let's talk what Glitter Tuesdays will be. At least through the end of summer, if there's a post on Tuesday, it'll be a glittery product. Even though I'm in my 30s, I still adore glitter- just not every day. And on America's birthday when I didn't want to post a review, this seemed like a great way to kick off this series... since Stila decided to not cooperate and ship in a timely matter.

Oh, well.  If you've got the day off, enjoy it! If you're an international reader, sorry for any celebrating Americans in your midst. We like to have fun once a year, ok?

Have a wonderful day!

Charlotte Tilbury The Uptown Girl Luxury Palette

When I rebooted this blog, I happened to mention a wish for featuring not just the newest of new releases. From time to time, I'm late to a beauty party and miss out on an incredible permanent collection item.

The Charlotte Tilbury Uptown Girl Luxury Palette Colour-Coded Eyeshadow Palette is one of those. I always swore that I didn't want to splurge on this line without a local counter. Luckily, one of my local Nordstrom did get a counter! After playing with the testers, I completely fell in love with one of the four shades in The Uptown Girl and knew it would be my first palette foray into the brand (if you recall, I did buy a lipstick and a lipliner (which I adore) from the line when it first launched in the US). I stayed true to my convictions and didn't purchase any additional items until I could see them in person.  (By the way, I feel the same way about Gucci Beauty. Give me even a mini kiosk at a local Gucci boutique and I'm in.)

I'll be honest- as much as I love this item, I'm not sure if I'll be purchasing more after dealing with the staff at my local counter. I hope it was merely over-exuberance from the grand opening, but I was left with an extremely negative impression of how the brand postures itself. The product's wonderful, but I felt bullied because I wanted to only purchase the quad and not one of the $200 plus full face kits. Especially when I already own some of the items in the kit that goes with this quad! I was told by the SA that it was "not being true to Charlotte's vision" and "not correct" to just buy the quad and that "I didn't get the brand" if I didn't plunk down $200 plus and purchase repeats. That's one of the reasons why I've held off on this review for so long. Makeup is about self-expression, not bullying consumers and demanding products be used only a certain way as not to "offend" the brand's creator.

As I said, I hope that this practice has stopped at my local counter. I've not been back since.

But let's talk about this incredible palette today instead of dwelling on my counter experience.

The Luxury Palettes are designed to produce a signature look. Each contain 4 types of shades:
1 (Upper Left): Prime
2 (Upper Right): Enhance
3 (Lower Right): Smoke
4 (Lower Left): Pop

For daytime, one generally places Prime all over the eye, and uses Enhance as a deepening shade. Depending on your preferences, place a little bit of Smoke just for daytime Smoky eye. For nighttime, deepen with Smoke, and place a little Pop for some shine.

That's the "true to Charlotte's vision" way to use this quad. I wanted to make sure that I mentioned it.

Let's look at Uptown Girl closely.

Note: this is swatched 1,2,4,3

Uptown Girl #1 (Prime): An amazing golden-beige shimmer that produces an incredibly natural sheen on my NW15 skin. I love this for an all-over highlighting shade, not as a base for everything else (I use primers for that).

Uptown Girl #2 (Enhance): This is the shade that I fell in love with at first swatch, and why I bought the palette in the first place. It's a shimmery complex grey-taupe that's flattering on just about everyone and is literally the perfect lid color for an understated look on me. If I could only wear one lid color for the rest of my life, this would be a finalist in that tough decision. 

Uptown Girl #3 (Smoke): A purple-grey shimmer that reminds me a lot of a slightly darker version of the Armani Organica palette from fall a couple of years ago (and one of my all-time favorites. Hey, Prime actually reminds me of the lighter shade from that palette, too!).

Uptown Girl #4 (Pop): A rose gold glitter. This is close in consistency to the original glitter shades in Tom Ford quads. I'll pop this in the center of my lid on occasion, but glitters aren't a daily go-to in the office for me. Spray your brush with MAC Fix+ for best performance.

Overall, this is an awesome quad. Texture of these shadows is awesome- very buttery and blendable.  This quad has found its way into my weekly rotation- I wear it at least once a week.  Here's an example:

Bottom line: Looking past the marketing, this quad does it all right. The Uptown Girl is an awesome neutrals-with-a-twist quad that's found its way into my most-used items because it simply performs. It's worth checking out.

Chanel L.A. Sunrise Collection Spring 2016

Next up in "Spring Collections you've already seen everywhere else" week is Chanel's L.A. Sunrise Collection for Spring 2016. It's been out for about a month and a half. Undoubtedly, the bright colors have caught your eye at the store. Compared to the La Perle collection, it really, honestly looks like Summer!

As a side note, I got to see the book at my local counter (not the pictured one). Summer looks like fall! Not sure what's going on with the season mixing at Chanel.


First, let's talk about what I didn't get. I skipped the blush because it's incredibly pigmented and I have rosacea. $70 saved. It's very pretty but not my colors. I also skipped all 3 Illusion d'Ombres since I honestly don't get that much use out of the ones that I own (I have only 2 that aren't dried out- Melody and Iridescent). I also skipped the Rouge Coco Shines because I don't reach for the ones that I own that often. There are many reviews out there though.

Now, let's talk about what I did get. One of the reasons why I'm featuring the collection so late is that the eyeshadow quad ( 262 Tisse Beverly Hills, $61) was delayed, much like the quad from last holiday. It's only been out for a few weeks and there aren't many swatches out there.

I'm going to be brief in this review since everyone's been looking at this collection for months. Tisse Beverly Hills is scary and bright. Let's get that out. However, it's workable. I've been able to successfully use all but the blue so far. The lighter shades play quite nicely with Tisse Rhapsodie from last year's La Perle collection. Let me swatch this for you and you'll see how awesome this:

Let's be honest, I love a great purple eyeshadow. I can see the first shade as an all-over lid color, with the second shade as a base/highlight and the last as an eyeliner, smoked a bit. See, it's not as scary as it seems. Still working on bright blue with blue eyes to be honest....

I believe this is supposed to be an addition to the permanent lineup, so I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't.

I also purchased one of the three Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliners ($33): 926 Purple Choc. I love it for lining the lower lashline. It's not as totally opaque as the best of the line but it's awesome nonetheless. It's another addition to the permanent line.

And then we have the nail polish: Sunrise Trip.

After trying this polish once, I swore it would never touch my nails again. I relented in the name of the blog- sort of. I've got one coat on my pinkie, two on my ring finger, and three on my middle finger.

It appears that I'm in the minority with my feelings on Sunrise Trip. It's the only Chanel polish I can truly say that I hate. It stains so badly, even with base coat and a coat of Deborah Lippmann Naked to try to protect my nails. Doing these swatches, I stood over my nails with a cleanup brush with acetone. Others have loved it though. It's a unique color, I just wish it would work better for me.

Overall, Chanel took a serious risk with their Spring collection. Go check it out at local counters if you haven't- the quad arrived late January. I love the idea of playful colors, I just wish they worked better with my complexion.

Giorgio Armani Fade to Grey Organica Palette & Eyes to Kill Liquid Eyeliner in Mercury Nude

Today I'm happy to be sharing with you two of the standout pieces from Giorgio Armani's Fall 2014 Fade to Grey Collection: the Organica Palette and Eyes to Kill Liquid Eyeliner in Mercury Nude. They're both stunning pieces and, despite the price, worth checking out. Armani is a luxury brand, with the prices to match.

The Organica Universal Eyeshadow Palette rings in at $88 for 5g/0.177oz. It's the same size compact as the brand's eyes/blush palettes, but only features 2 shadows. Size-wise, it's larger than 4 solo shades.

There are two small foam brushes tucked into the lower level of the compact, but I haven't used them since I prefer brushes (I've actually been using the Tom Ford Eyeshadow Brush to do my looks with this palette).

Some have complained about the design on the palette, but it doesn't bother me. I'm too much in love with the shades and the performance of the shadows.

It's important to note that the stock photo (below) reads far cooler and less violet than the actual palette.

Stock photo via Nordstrom.com

There are two shades in the Organica Palette, a lovely grey with violet undertones (left) and a glorious peach devoid of pink (right).

Seriously, look at this baby shine in the sun. How can you not fall in love?

Even without direct sun, this palette appears to be lit within. It does lead to a luminous eye look, which is never an unflattering look.

Here are some lovely swatches that made me really fall in love with the palette.

Outside, in full sun it's phenomenal.

Outside, without flash:

Outside, with flash:

Inside,with flash:

These shadows are shimmery and metallic without a hint of frost. That's what makes this a stunner in my opinion. Yes, it's expensive, but worth it for a grey lover like me.

I've worn this multiple times, with the grey on the lid, the two shades mixed in the crease, and the peach shade halfway up the brow bone as the easiest pairing. I've paired it with different liners, but the one that I love most with it just happens to be the Eyes to Kill Liquid Liner in Mercury Nude (#3) from the same collection.

I purchased my palette in-store at Neiman Marcus (the only place where I've seen the collection in person), but it's available on Armani, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, and Saks' websites.

Although I love the palette on its own, I truly believe that the Eyes to Kill Liquid Liner in Mercury Nude (#3) is the perfect partner. It strikes the perfect balance of being metallic yet soft and subtle enough to feel comfortable wearing this look to a fairly conservative workplace. These liners retail for $34.

Mercury Nude is a lovely purple-leaning silver that's a perfect compliment to the grey shade in the Organica Palette. The liquid eyeliner dries quickly and wears well. The brush is very thin, and even a neophyte like myself didn't have too many issues with application.

All 4 of the liquid eyeliners are metallic and compliment the rest of the collection. I selected Mercury Nude because I don't have anything like it in my stash, color-wise. It's a lovely, complex purplish-silver-taupe. I also feel like it's one of the easier shades to wear (versus a bright silver, olive-gold, or rose-gold).

This flash photo most accurately captures the purple undertones of Mercury Nude:

I'll admit that it looks a bit scary on its own. But trust me, it just works with the palette. Wear time is good- I've never tested it beyond 10 hours, but at the 10 hour mark it looked just as good as when I applied it.

In the sun:

Inside, without flash:

Inside, with flash:

Outside:

Just to demonstrate just how well Mercury Nude works with the palette, here are a couple of quick shots. They don't do it justice though- the liner just makes your eyes illuminated and finishes the look to perfection.

In the sun:

Inside, with flash:

Outside:

Like the Organica Palette, I purchased the Eyes to Kill Liquid Eyeliner in-store at Neiman Marcus, the only local store with the collection in-store at the moment. It's available online at all of the same places that I listed for the palette.