Lancome Color Design Palette in Emerald Boudoir

Part of a recent Lancome gift with purchase was the choice of a mini Color Design eyeshadow palette, and I chose Emerald Boudoir. 

The 5 in 1 Color Design palettes retail for $49 and feature shadows that can work together for an all inclusive look.  The mini palettes included with the GWP are half the size of the regular Color Designs, but still substantial enough to not feel like you can't adequately dip your brush in the smaller pans. 

The top shade in the palette is a shimmery golden beige.  I'm not sure it's micro-glitter, but I can see some tiny flecks on my skin with this shade.  Next is a lovely green that is soft yet still vibrant for a pop of color.  The only matte shade is the middle pan of reddish brown, which does indeed work well as a crease color.  The peach with golden shimmer is designated as a highlighter, but it also works as a nice lid color.  The dark brown is the liner, and it has a subtle shimmer which is evident in the sun.

I do wish that they gave names to the shadows, as it makes it difficult to tell if these are colors carried in the permanent line or unique to the palettes.  The peach shade reminds me of Kitten Heel.

All of the colors are soft, nicely pigmented, and easy to blend.  It really is a nice palette and versatile enough to create several different looks.

Disclosure:  I purchased this.

BFTE Green Eyeshadows: Limelight, Secret Garden, Ying Yang, Lichen

When I ordered some shadows from Beauty from the Earth (BFTE), I somehow managed to pick mainly oranges and greens.  Ten green shadows, to be precise, with 4 to show you today.   All swatches are over UD original eye primer.  The lighter swatch is dry, the darker is using BFTE's Mix & Fix sealant.

Limtelight

Limelight is a chartreuse green shimmer that leans towards gold on the eye.  Very pretty and a good eye brightener.

Secret Garden

Secret Garden is a bronzed olive.  When used wet, the green comes out more. 

Ying Yang

Ying Yang is what I think of as parrot green.  It's more vibrant than Limelight but in the same color family. 

Lichen

Lichen is the perfect name for this shadow, especially when used wet.  It's a matte and I'm not sure yet how I'm going to use it, although it's an interesting color. 

Items used for this look were:

• Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Barely Beige over entire lid
• Limelight on first 2/3 of lid
• Secret Garden in crease and above/below lash line
• Eyeko felt tip liner in Olive
• Lancome Hypnose mascara

Disclosure:  I purchased these.

Farmaesthetics Sweet Milk & Chamomile Exfoliate for the Face

"Natural ingredients vibrate with energy. They have the power to restore balance & sustain your unique skin health.

In keeping with the traditions of American herbalism, each herb & flower chosen for a Farmaesthetics preparation plays a functional role. Each ingredient is there for a reason. The result is not just skin that looks healthier, but is healthier."

~ Brenda Brock, Farmaesthetics Founder

Farmaesthetics is a natural skincare line that has been garnering attention from the likes of Women's Wear Daily and TIME magazine, being named to lists such as "The Green Brands Defining Organic Skincare" and"Green Style & Design 100: The People & Ideas Behind Today's Most Influential Design".

I was unaware of all this, having discovered Farmaesthetics at Macy's online while browsing around a bit to find something to raise my total to qualify for free shipping.  Being on sale at the time (and no longer available via Macy's web site), in my bag it went.  I'm glad I stumbled across it!

There are 3 different variants of the sweet milk exfoliate series, but the chamomile one was the only one left so that's what I got.  It's for "restoring the glow of health to sensitive complexions", which I'm all for.  I would have also liked to try the one for balancing oily and congested skin, which contains orange peel.  I love how you can see the chamomile flowers in the mix, which is a simple formula of dried sweet milk, chamomile flowers, and fine yellow cornmeal housed in a glass bottle that reminds me of a milk bottle. 

I pour some of the sweet milk exfoliate on top of my bayberry Naturals breakout banisher cleanser and find that it becomes creamy - there is no grit here.  It's gently enough to use daily, or you can use it weekly as a mask, since milk's lactic acid makes for a good exfoliate.  I tried mixing it with just water and using as a mask with semi-successful results.  Too litter water and it balled up, but when I added more water it was too runny.  On the plus side, it does smell like sweet milk!

The sweet milk exfoliates retail for $25.50 for 4 oz. and can be purchased directly from the Farmaesthetics web site.  Committed to "Sustainable Beauty©", all Farmaesthetics products are 100% natural utilizing certified organic herbs, flowers, oils & grains from American family farms.  I'm interested in trying more of their products!

Disclosure:  I purchased this.

September Birchbox: Fall Beauty Trends

One of the things that I find interesting about Birchbox is how passionate subscribers can get about the content of their boxes.  It reminds me a bit of Goldilocks - this one is too light, this one is too dark, this one is too small, this one is too big!  It all comes down to the eyes of the beholder, and for me at least, Birchbox got it just right this month.

I frequently see people lamenting about Birchbox not customizing the box contents according to their subscriber profile.  Whether or not it was by chance or design, my box gets high marks for fitting my profile as far as skin type and color matches.  The deluxe sample sized Boscia moisturizer is oil-free, a good match for my oily skin.  The Jouer tinted moisturizer is matte and a good color match.  I just cut my hair off so may have to wait to use the lace hair tie, but I like it.  The twirl perfume started off nice but I'm not liking the dry down phase much, so I probably won't use it.  The Color Club polish is in a shade I do not have, so that's nice!

Lifestyle extras this month were three packets of Mighty Leaf tea, which I'll be using up soon as my Keurig coffee maker seems to have broken on me.  Calamity!  I'm constantly sipping on something, so I guess it will be tea for a while.  Fortunately, I have a smaller Keurig I use at the office, so at least I'll get my caffeine boost once I roll into work.  I also got 2 song downloads and a $25 off $75 purchase from Madewell, which I doubt will get used.  Nice extras, though.

Birchbox also put together a mini-booklet featuring staffers wearing fall fashion looks and products in the Birchbox shop, which I enjoyed looking through.  I'm estimating the value of my box to be about $24, so not bad for my $10 investment!

Disclaimer:  I subscribe to Birchbox for $10 per month. 

NOTD: Julep Vera and Family Musings

Vera is not a name you come across often and has gone out of style.  I've got a soft spot for it though, as my maternal grandmother was named Vera.  One of fourteen children, she grew up in rural South Carolina with what was essentially a single mother, as her father was frequently gone due to a long term, chronic illness.  My grandmother managed to live overseas with her career military husband, raised five children, was a mean bridge player, and could whack the heck out of a paddle ball.  She was unique and she was tough - not the cuddly grandma type, but more of the fierce lion momma.  I can still remember her dressing down a school principle who had unjustly accused me of something and was slow to admit fault.  She left him cowering.

So I'm fond of Julep's Vera.  Fortunately it also happens to be a color I'm drawn to, a soft fawn or milky light chocolate.  Vera may also qualify as a palette cleanser, but her neutral tones have kept me quite satisfied and I haven't been tempted to cover her with glitter yet.  I like that the color leans warmer than some greiges like OPI's You Don't Know Jacques or Sephora by OPI's Metro Chic, as it is more complementary to my skin tone.

I used two coats of Vera over Seche Vite's base coat.  The formula was smooth, easy to apply, and dries with a high gloss.  I did top with Seche Vite's top coat for protection, but could have gone without, that's how shiny Vera is.  I took these photos 3 days into wear and Vera has some minor tip wear but is holding tough.  Julep polishes are $14, which is pricey IMO.  I subscribe to Julep's Maven program which gets them at a discount, plus Julep periodically offers mystery boxes for $19.99 where you are guaranteed at least $60 worth of product, which is how I obtained Vera. 

Now all Julep needs to do is name a polish Ila Mae, which was my paternal grandmother's name.  I'm not holding my breath, as that name has definitely gone out of fashion.

Disclaimer:  I purchase this.

Eye Looks from stila's In the Know Palette

Yesterday I showed you stila's new matte palette, In the Know.   Included with the palette is a booklet with instructions on creating different looks with the shadows.  I've tried a few and thought I'd show the results.

Effortless ease is  a simple work friendly look that I've already worn a couple of times.  It's especially good for mornings when my brain is fuzzy and doesn't really want to wake up.

Into the night takes effortless ease a few steps further and creates a smoky eye.  It was also the look I had the most trouble with, as smoke did not want to cooperate and applied patchy.

So, I started over and used Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt as a base, with smoke over it.  Audacious Asphalt can be a bit patchy on it's own as well, but I was hoping the two together would create a smooth look.  I can't say I was completely successful.

Next up was soft smoke.  I didn't go as intense as the booklet, but I like how it came out.  I've been using Maybelline's Color Tattoo cream shadow in Barely Beige as a base, which is why there is a bit of shimmer below.

Last up is my own combo of desert, driftwood, and fire.

With the exception of smoke, which just would not behave, the colors perform well.  I can actually see myself using this palette more for neutral looks than I do Urban Decay's Naked!

stila's In the Know palette retails for $39.

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

stila In the Know Palette: Swatches and Review

stila's In the Know palette features 10 matte eye shadows in neutral earth tones, with names that reflect natural elements: 

air: a light cream
wind: a light nude beige
desert: a  peachy nude
clay: a muted pink nude
earth: a deep cool brown
driftwood: a mid-tone warm brown
fire: a spicy orange (reminds me of the red clay dirt here in Alabama)
rain: a fawn brown
smoke: a cool grey
ebony: a soft black/charcoal gray

For a neutral lover such as myself, it was only a matter of time before I succumbed and bought this beauty!

Shade

Sun

My concern was how well these would apply, as mattes can tend towards being powdery and/or patchy.  When I swatched these, I was pretty impressed, as patchiness did not seem to be an issue.  All swatches are done dry over UD's original eye primer.  Apparently, these shadows can also be used wet, although I've yet to try them that way.

The lightest shades, air and wind, don't show up on my arm swatch as they blend in with my skin.  There is some powder kick up with these, although I did not notice a lot of fall out when applied to my eyes.

air, wind, desert

Pigmentation on clay, earth, and driftwood was good and they applied smoothly.

clay, earth, driftwood

Fire definitely had the best color payoff out of the bunch, whereas smoke was the most problematic.  While the arm swatch of smoke looked decent, it applied very patchy on my eyes.  I finally resorted to using a cream shadow base in a similar color to combat the problems I was having with smoke.  Disappointing, as I really like the color and would have preferred a softer look without the patchiness.  I shall try using smoke with a mixing medium next and see if that works better.

fire, rain, smoke

Ebony applied better than smoke, and I found that lightly taping my brush on ebony was plenty sufficient to pick up enough color and not overdo it.  Also included in the palette is a smudge stick waterproof eyeliner in half moon, a blueish gray.  The liner can be built up and I found it takes a few sweeps to get an opaque line.  Staying power was good.

ebony, half moon eyeliner

Also included in the palette is a  small booklet with instructions with different looks.  I've tried 3 of them so far and will have pictures of those tomorrow.  Overall, I really like this palette.  Most of the shadows performed well and the colors are perfect for work friendly looks or for creating a smoky eye (something I'm still trying to get the hang of). 

stila's In the Know palette retails for $39.00.  I got mine directly from stila, and first time purchases from their site qualify for a 20% discount.

Disclosure:  I purchased this.