Theodora palette review!

Ignore my terrible eyebrows. They are being grown out after a bad wax!

While I love bargain products, I recently decided it was time to expand my collection a little bit and buy some higher end stuff. It started out with Kat Von D foundation (which is HG status for me and will be reviewed soon!) and has grown from there. I am still a poor cosmetology student, though, so I was left drooling over the new limited edition Glinda and Theodora   palettes from Urban Decay.
Well, I woke up the other morning and surprise!... Zach had ordered them both for me. What a stud! So, tonight I bring you a review of the Theodora palette.

Price: $49.99
Includes: Palette containing 6 new eyeshadows (0.05 oz), Theodora Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color (0.10 oz), and Zero 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil (0.03 oz)
Would I recommend?:   YES. 

First of all, let me say I love the packaging of this product. Not only is the artwork really cool, but the eyeshadows are housed in a tin container, so the whole thing just feels very sturdy and well-made. Also, the eyeshadows are removable and can be replaced with other UD shadows. Neat! The palette itself comes in your standard cardboard box with the same artwork as the palette and the eyeshadow names on the back. Inside the box is a "get the look" card and the lipstick.

Broken: Is a really pretty matte cream color. It looks white on the swatch due to the flash, but it pulls more of a buttercream color. It is very soft and pigmented for such a light color. No chalkiness and blends beautifully!

Beware: A medium matte brown. Again, very soft and no chalkiness. Works well as a wash or in the crease.

Bewitch: Darker brown shade that is more gray than warm. Again, fantastic pigmentation!

West: Another sparkly dark brown shade. Warmer than bewitch. Very soft and blendable.

Spell (black side): A sparkly charcoal color. Not super intense, but you can easily build it up. I really think this is a good thing in a black shadow because I love putting them in my crease. If it is super pigmented it is just too harsh. I did experience fall-out with the glitter, though.

Spell (gold side): Gorgeous gold color! One of my favorites in this palette. Very pigmented and so easy to blend. Great shadow.

Jealous (darker green): Very lovely shimmery medium green color. I like it because it is an earthy green color, so it can be worn for every day wear or smoked out for night time without being too intense. It is very pigmented and goes on my lids wonderfully.

Jealous (lighter green): Frosty light green color. It reminds me of tinkerbell for some strange reason. Again, it is very pigmented and blends like a dream.

Theodora super-saturated lip color: Oh my gosh. This is my favorite lipstick right now! It does not pull too blue-toned on me, which is almost impossible in red lipsticks on my skintone for some reason. I love the fact that it is not drying at all... in fact it is like a really badass lipgloss. It is very intensely pigmented and has great staying power. My only complaint is that it tends to travel a bit and I end up with lipstick under my lip... or on my nose, somehow.

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in "Zero": This is a jet black liner which is great for smudging if you are doing a smokey eye. I love it on my bottom waterline as it does not smear all up under my eyes like most eyeliners.

Overall, I say this palette is a great buy. You can get so many looks from it and, like most UD products, the pigmentation is awesome. I see myself reaching for this palette daily, which is rare for me! I think there is something for everyone here and I suggest picking it up if you want something that works consistently and is long-lasting!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Abbalope Handcrafted Soap Review!

Hello, lovelies! It has been far too long since I have posted.... life has been hectic, to be honest. Between work and holiday chaos I really felt like I had nothing worthwhile to post about. One thing I never want this blog to be is an obligation. I have too many of those as it is! However, I have made it my New Years resolution to be better about posting. I love my little blog, and I have met some beautiful people in the short time I have had it going. You guys are rad!

Anyways, while Christmas shopping this year I decided I needed to put a few manly items in Zach's stocking. After a bit of searching I came across Abbalope's shop. She had a ton of really awesome looking, handcrafted soaps. I quickly snatched up the leather scented one along with the Santa's pipe scented ones. I wish I had pictures, but they are currently being used up in Zach's shower. I know, I know... "leather scented soap? EWWWW." Maybe it is the Southern part of me, but two of my top favorite scents are leather and tobacco. The leather is definitely my favorite of the two soaps I bought him. The scent is spot-on, and not overpowering at all. I like scents that you have to be snuggling to smell.

I also received some samples of her other soaps. Here is my first-impression of them!

Spearmint Sugar Scrub.Smells like the name suggests! My friend Ana sat in my bedroom floor and begged to take it with her. It smells like a stick of gum... only more natural. Does that make sense? No? Oh well. I love that it contains real cane sugar and coconut oil. My dry skin will love it!

Cucumber and Green Tea. Errrmahgerd. Definitely one of my favorites. When I was in my tweens I had cucumber melon scented EVERYTHING. This is like the "grown-up" version with the green tea. It is a very mild and very fresh scent. I kinda want to eat it, but I probably shouldn't.
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Naouli Lime  smells very fresh as well. I don't really detect any lime, but that could just be my winter allergies. It smells like it may have a little eucalyptus in it, but it is not listed in the description.

Lavender Anise is probably my least favorite of the bunch... Zach smelled it and said "is that absinthe scented?"... which is probably why I don't like it as much. I do not like black licorice. I have many memories of my grandparents offering me candy, only to realize it was black licorice. Black licorice should be renamed "disappointment candy".

Milk and Honey is my favorite of them all! It smells so sweet, but not in that slightly overwhelming vanilla icing scent everyone seems to like (and I do, too! Just not on me!)... it is very mild. I like that about it. The honey, oatmeal, and goat's milk are also a treat for my dry and sensitive skin! This is definitely going to be on the list of ones I will purchase.

Earth Sea and Air. This was also one I was not as crazy about, but that doesn't make it a bad soap! I am just one of those people that doesn't like very floral scents. This soap has a ton of cool ingredients, though! Sea clay and sea salt being two of them.

Tea Tree smells just like, well, tea tree... which I love! I love tea tree oil. This soap would be awesome for someone with body acne, as tea tree oil is great for drying up blemishes.

Snickerdoodle is also on my "to buy" list. It smells soooooo good! My friend Ana also flipped over how yummy this one smelled. I am usually not one for soaps that smell like baked goods, but i am kind of obsessed with this one. My boyfriend loved it, too! 

I also got Tobacco Road, but for whatever reason the picture would not upload correctly. It smells amazing, though. Definitely going to purchase it for Zach. It is a lot like the Santa's pipe scent I got him for Christmas, but without the cherry scent... which I prefer. 

Hope y'all had an awesome New Year's! 

Beauty for a Bargain: Coconut Oil

Today's Beauty for a Bargain is not something that I would have originally called a "bargain"... I remember hearing people singing the praises of coconut oil. I went to Wal-Mart and excitedly hunted some down. When I saw how small the tub was for the price, I decided to not get it. I think it was around $6 for 4 oz. Call me cheap, but at the time that seemed like a tiny bit of product for the price.
A few weeks ago Zach got me an Amazon giftcard and I bit the bullet and purchased some. I instantly fell in love. It has SO many uses. For example, I heated some up (it comes in a solid form until you melt it down) and coated my hair with it. I threw my hair up in a bun and Zach and I watched a movie on Netflix before I shampood it out. My hair has never felt better! This is in comparison to some of my more expensive hair treatments. None of them have ever made my hair so manageable and soft. I could actually run my fingers through it, which I can NEVER do. It also seemed to help my split ends. Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't possible to fuse together hair that is split. All those products claiming to "seal" them are lying. However, coconut oil did smooth them down and I can see it preventing them from getting worse, meaning I can go longer between trims.

Next I used this on my body after getting out of the shower. Holy moses! My skin was ridiculously soft! I couldn't stop touching it. Usually I am ashy and itchy even after using baby oil and lotion. With this, I can even skip a day or two and my skin stays soft. I haven't had any reactions to it, either. I even mixed a vanilla fragrance with it, which is usually a no-no for my super sensitive skin. No issues at all. Just skin as smooth as silk.

Coconut oil is also great for chapped lips! I just rub a bit on and then once it sinks in I put my normal gloss on. It is an amazing makeup remover, too. Especially on my eyes. No burning or stinging at all. I rubbed it on my hyper-pigmentation on my cheeks and it calmed down the redness almost instantly. My acne scars seemed to fade, too! However, I tried to use this all over as a moisturizer and it was too much. I had a few cystic zits, but they healed up almost immediately. So, maybe it's not the best if you are acne prone like me. I hear that if you get the unbleached kind it is great for acne, though. Maybe one day!

Hope y'all are having a great week. Sorry for being a bit MIA. Thanks for all the kind words about Pappy. We have had a very scary week, which is part of the reason I have not been posting as much. His kidneys are functioning again, but he is very weak and has lost a lot of weight. Up until yesterday he was talking a bit out of his head. They moved him temporarily to a nursing home, which is very hard for me to see, but I know it is necessary for him to recover. He seemed more like himself when I went to visit today, though. He even drank some of a milkshake I snuck in for him. :) Let me tell ya, I adore that man.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation vs Colorstay Whipped

I have used a ton of different foundations over the years (you know, when I actually bother to wear it). I have used Mirabella, MAC, various drugstore brands, bareMinerals, etc... but by far my go-to product has got to be Revlon ColorStay Foundation. Now, before I start this post let me just clarify that the liquid foundation in the picture is actually my mom's. I actually use foundation for dry/normal skin and my color is "Buff". I didn't realize it until I decided to write this review, but I do believe my foundation is sitting on Zach's bathroom counter... Oops!

Earlier this year, sites like makeupalley exploded singing the praises of the ColorStay Whipped foundation. I picked up some and ever since I have been using both off and on, so I think I am a fair judge of which product is better.

To me Revlon ColorStay liquid is the better choice.

I have dry skin, leaning more towards combination in the summer. The ColorStay Whipped work great when applied with a flat-top brush during the summer months, especially when I set it with a translucent powder. My skin looked almost airbrushed even. However, as fall and cold weather rolled around my skin has gotten a lot drier. It emphasizes my dry patches and now it feels like it just sits on top of my skin rather than blending in. It looks cakey even with a primer.
I have never had this issue with the ColorStay liquid formula. I can blend it into my skin with both my fingers and a brush and it always looks good. I feel like it is definitely more natural looking than the whipped foundation. Also, a month or so ago my dermatologist put me on some medications for acne that broke me out in a horrible allergic reaction. My skin was peeling like crazy. I had run out of the liquid foundation and I decided to try to cover up some of the redness with the whipped foundation... it set my skin on fire. I was crying trying to wipe it off and I am usually not one to cry from stuff like that. It felt like acid. My skin was bright red afterwards, too. I ended up buying the liquid foundation that afternoon and it did not sting at all.

Different foundations work for different people... there are tons of people who think the whipped version is a God-send and would never use anything else. However, with my skin type (dry/combination/dry/dry) I think the liquid is a better choice.

What do you think? Has anyone else used either foundation?

Beauty for a Bargain: Midnight Fever palette review.

I headed over to Walgreens a week or two ago because my friend informed me they had some e.l.f. holiday eyeshadow palettes out for pretty cheap. That is when I came across this palette and I had to do a double-take. It looked so much like the UD Naked palette that I love so much... and for $5 rather than $30.

I did not purchase it that day because I had to pick up the acne medicine my evil dermatologist prescribed me that nearly melted my face off, but I ran across it again on Saturday while shopping at Big Lots with Zach. He saw me looking at it and before I said anything he had it in his hand and was on the way to the register... I am glad that he supports my cosmetics addiction even though he hates makeup. He's a keeper! 

Anyways, here are some photos with the flash for a better idea of what the colors look like...

As you can see, the shadows are quite lovely. Perfect for anyone who wants a nice neutral look or wants to wear a smokey eye. It comes with an eyeliner that I have not used yet and an applicator that is pretty useless and broke when I tried to use it to do swatches.

Speaking of swatches!...

This is the first five shades in the palette...

And the last half which is the darker colors.

As you can see, the pigment is pretty good on these for how cheap they were. I feel like it is pretty comparable to the Naked palette. There were even some dupes!

Here we have UD's Toasted on the left and the 5th eyeshadow in the Midnight Fever palette on the right.

I believe this is UD's Gunmetal on the left and 8th Midnight Fever shadow on the right. They are pretty much identical!

And here we have third shadow in the Midnight Fever palette on the left and UD's Darkhorse on the right. I expected that particular color to be a dupe for "Buck", but it is waaaaay darker when you put it on than it appears in the pan.

Overall I found this palette to be a pretty darn good palette for the price. While the colors are not as pigmented as the UD palette, they are still really nice and would probably go on even better with a good primer. However, I did find these to be a bit crumbly and I think fallout will probably be an issue with these. I have not worn these out yet, so I can't really say how long these will stay before fading. I do think you can't beat them for the price, though!

Well, it is time to get ready for work. I get to be at work at 9pm tonight for the Black Ops 2 release. My job is a lot of fun, but sometimes I want to strangle people. I can handle a lot of things, but some idiot teenager thinking it is alright to call me "babe" or "sexy" makes me want to hand out a good Tennessee whoop assin'.

Have a great night, errybody!

TGIF.

I am sick! I am being whiny about being sick. I haven't photographed any makeup or hair because guess what?... I'M SICK.

Actually I just started getting really sick and feverish tonight. Otherwise I have just felt like poop all week. I could have slept this entire week and not regretted it a bit. However, it is Friday night and my spirits are slightly up. Zach is home. I get to see him tomorrow, so I feel like I can finally really rest. I worry a ridiculous amount. I can't help it. I am one of those people that has to physically touch the wall socket to know that my flat iron is, in fact, unplugged. I may or may not check it once (or twice) more before leaving the house.

While Zach has been gone I have had to find things to keep me occupied. The main thing keeping me occupied is...

Sherlock. Oh mah gerd. Why have I not discovered this show sooner? I think I may be obsessed. Zach and I started the series before he left and I have been trying my damnedest not to watch it without him, but I totally slipped up. Oh well! It is seriously one of the best television series I have ever seen. When we started it I was a bit wary that it was set in modern times, but I was completely hooked by the first episode. Everyone should go onto Netflix this very moment and start watching! There is so much I want to write, but it is hard to describe the show without giving away the plot. It isn't a bunch of random episodes. Every episode is connected to this one main plot. Go! Now! Netflix!

Any recommendations for what I should watch when I finish this?

 

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque: A Review!

Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask



You know what I love? Super cheap beauty finds that really work.

I discovered the mint julep masque while lurking around http://www.makeupalley.com/ and pretty much all the reviews preached about the magic that is in this tube.  For only a little over $3 how could I not try this out?  The description says:

" Helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads & shrink enlarged pores. Mint Julep Masque is the original natural home treatment developed by a dermatologist that helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads and shrink enlarged pores. Simply apply Mint Julep Masque to your clean face and neck. Within minutes it firms and hardens, drawing out impurities from your pores. After the masque is removed, your skin will feel clean, refreshed and smooth. Even for individuals who are fortunately free of skin problems, Mint Julep Masque is a refreshing facial treatment that helps relax tired muscles and ease tension lines on the face and neck. Made in U.S.A."

Sounds too good to be true, right? It isn't! 

Please brace yourself for what you are about to witness....

 

I have been testing this for months now and it is never a disappointment. It's a thick yet creamy consistency and smells like spearmint gum. I apply it clean, dry skin and I make sure to avoid my eye area because this stuff is drying. For some, it may "tingle" a bit... and by "tingle" I mean burn, but this is also coming from the girl that cries every time she watches "My Girl". Seriously though, it's really nothing bad and if I let a fan blow in my face for a few seconds it doesn't bother me a bit. Also, I have combination skin, leaning towards dry due to acne medication so this could explain any mild discomfort. After the initial tingle, it feels cool on my face while it dries. I leave it on for about 15 or so minutes before I rinse it off with cool water and pat my face dry with a towel. Then I apply moisturizer.

Also, I am aware that I have like three false lashes left. They are going to have to fall out on their own because I am not about to risk ripping my eyelashes out. Haha.

And here comes the gross part. It sucks all the nasty stuff out of your pores. That would be oil sitting on top of my nose. Also, any white heads I may have on my face are literally sitting on top of my skin when I wash this off... I didn't photograph that, though. I don't want anyone crying themselves to sleep tonight. 

Overall, I think this is probably one of the best masques I have ever used. It really lives up to the description. My face looks smoother and my pores look tighter when I rinse it off. Also, it is a FANTASTIC spot treatment. Dab some of this on a zit before bed and it will be pretty much dried up by the next morning. 

What are your favorite bargain beauty tricks?