Urban Decay releases Naked Basics Palette

I'm so excited to share that Urban Decay has released its long awaited Matte palette called "NAKED Basics."
Urban Decay describes it as:

über-wearable shades look great on literally EVERYONE. Richer than other mattes, the color goes on with a smooth, luxe finish (never chalky or powdery).  

The case is said to be  sleek, soft-touch case has a slight sheen and feels like suede. Small and compact so it travels well, this must-have palette is packed with six full-sized shadows.

This palette includes the following shades:

VENUS – soft, off-white demi-matte
FOXY – very light yellow/beige matte
WALK OF SHAME – very light pinky nude matte

NAKED2 – rosy taupe matte
FAINT – warm, dusty brown matte
CRAVE – deepest, darkest brown/black matte

The Naked Basics Palette (SRP $27) is available from Sephora, ULTA and select Macy’s stores. Or, online at Sephora.com, ulta.com, macys.com, beauty.com and urbandecay.com. 

I believe this price point is decent for this palette. I'm hoping to get my hands on one soon.

Are you getting NAKED basics?

Holiday Makeup Must Haves

This Holiday there will be tons of new releases in the makeup world. However, there are a few key items that need to stay in your makeup bag or at the very front of your makeup collection. Here are my pics for the Holiday 2012 season.

#1: Matte Lipsticks

I really love NYX Matte Lipsticks! They come in a number of amazing colors and are really affordable. Word of caution though: lips need to be exfoliated and moisturized before application to prevent crusty looking lips :)

#2: Mascara

These three are my top pics for long, full lashes this holiday season. Rimmel London Sexy Curves, Rimmel London Eye Magnifier and Benefit They're real mascaras all do an amazing job of separating and volumizing lashes.

#3: Long Lasting Black Eyeliner

My top picks would have to be Urban Decays' 24/7 glide on pencil for the smooth like butter formulation and long lasting stay power as well as NYXs' retractable water proof liner. The more cost effective choice would be the NYX liner, however, I do love the 24/7 pencil. I couldn't choose so I picked both.

#4: Warm Blushes 

I selected two of my favorite warm tone blushes. MAC mineralized skin finish in Ring of Saturn and Sleek makeup Rose Gold  blushes give you a hint of warm pink to the cheeks but also a lovely glow of shimmering gold.

#5: Lashes

No holiday look is complete without some amazing lashes! I chose the Ardell Double up lashes because they give the look of having on two lashes. This gives a full more vibrant look to the eyes without having to actually stack lashes yourself.

Holiday Makeup: Sugar Plum Sparkle

I love this time of year and I'm already in the Holiday spirit! I decided to start off my holiday makeup looks with something simple with a bit of sparkle. Enjoy!

Products used
Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette
Urban Decay Naked Palette
MAC Gem of Roses lipstick
MAC Heroine lipstick
Ardell Lashes
NYX Espresso lip liner
NYX eyeliner in black
Milano baked blush in Fantastico mauve
Too faced shadow insurance primer
Too faced starry-eye liquid liner
Perfekt eye lash perfection gel

Apply False Lashes with Sephora Bulls Eye Lash Applicator

I used to have such a hard time applying false lashes when I began wearing makeup. I always used my hands and would sometimes smudge my makeup. I never wanted to use tweezers out of fear of poking my eye out. Then I ran across this amazing tool by Sephora, the Bulls Eye Lash Applicator. It retails for $12 on Sephora.com. It is a very easy to use product, but it does take practice like any other tool to use it effectively.

These are the lashes I have been using lately! 

I love the look of amazing full lashes I get with out having to apply two sets of lashes.

Here's the tutorial. Enjoy :)

Casual Fall look

Wanted to do a simple, classy fall look as I was out and about on campus this weekend. Enjoy!
Urban Decay NAKED palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on pencil "perversion
NYX lipstick "Tea Rose"
Rimmel London "The Max Volume" Mascara
Revlon ColorStay Makeup in Caramel
Ben Nye Banana Powder
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in "Dark"
MAC Mineralized blush "Feeling Flush"
MAC Studio fix concealer in NC50
MAC eyebrow pencil in Stud
Maybelline gel eyeliner in Blackest black

Natural Hair: Caribbean Queen Bun & Twists Up Do

Decided to to try an amazingly high updo.

I used the Marley Braid hair from the Janet Collection in #2. 

This texture was closer to my natural hair and would give me that "big" look I desired.

I really liked the finished look. I have gotten so many compliments on it. It took me 5 hours to complete (with snacking in between). I hope you give it a try :)

Minnie Mouse Glam Inspired Makeup

Disney has been a big part of my life and I always loved Minnie Mouse. She is a DIVA in her own right and I feel I did her justice with this look.

Products used

NYX Perfect Red Matte lipstick

MAC Rocker Lipstick

BH Cosmetics 88 Tropical Matte palette

NYX Hot Red Lip liner

NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil in Baby Blue

Wet N Wild Blush in Mellow Wine

Ben Nye Banana Powder

MAC mineralized Skin Finish in Dark

Palladio Black liquid liner

Rimmel London eye magnifier mascara

Wig from Ebay: http://bit.ly/RsufJ8
Contact lens: PinkyParadise.com

Spider Queen Halloween Makeup Tutorial

I had so much fun creating this look! I was inspired by all the little spiders I pass by on a daily basis on my way to the library. I hope you give this a try for halloween!

Watch the tutorial!

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow insurance eye shadow primer
Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette "black out" eyeshadow
Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eyeliner
Sugarpill Cosmetics Burning Heart palette
Maybelline gel eyeliner
Random black lip liner
MAC Heroine matte lipstick
MAC Rockstar lipstick
MAC mineralized blush "feeling flush"
Ardell double up eyelashes
Spiders from Target.

Dark Sugared Fairy Halloween Makeup

Halloween is almost here and for those of us that don't like masks but rather play in makeup, this is a great way to use just a few items to get a gorgeous look!

See the video below on how to achieve this look:

Products used:
Lace fabric from HobbyLobby
Cleopatra lashes from Sallys Beauty
NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Black Bean
Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in Perversion
NYX Matte lipstick in Perfect Red
NYX lip liner in Espresso
Random black lip liner
MAC Carbon eyeshadow

Natural Hair Side Twists styled 3 ways!

Decided to do my hair this week. I hope you become inspired as well. Tutorial is below.

Groovy Fall Makeup Tutorial

Enjoy the first of many fall makeup tutorials for this season!

Products used:

MAC Call me Bubbles Quad

Urban Decay NAKED palette

Makeup Forever #92 eyeshadow

Sephora Lashes

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in "Perversion"

NYX soft matte lip cream in "London" 

Magnolia Makeup pigment in "gilded"

Fall Brow Tutorial

Every season I change up how I do my brows. Here is how I like to wear them in the fall :)

Frugal Find: Michael Kors "Meg" Shoes

I went to the mall today just to browse around and ended up in Dillards. Usually Dillards is too expensive for my blood, but when I saw these gorgeous Michael Kors "Meg" Open Toe Shoes on clearance for 65% I jumped at the chance! They are a 9.5 instead of my usual 9, but they do fit perfectly.

Easy Office Hairstyle

I've always believed in keeping it simple in an office setting! No need to scare the boss with big hair! Let me show you how to style a quick, simple bun and side flat twist. 

I was on my way to a career fair and decided to do a quick and easy hairstyle suitable for the occasion.

Learn how to create it here:

How To: Save Money on Makeup

Thought I'd share some tips on saving money on makeup!

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation Review & Demo

Urban Decay recently released a foundation called NAKED Skin and I wanted to give it a try.

My biggest concerns with any foundation is that it must cover my acne scars, and so far it takes 2 pumps of the NAKED Skin foundation to do so. Overall it is a nice foundation, but color variations need more work.

Here are some Pros:

• Light weight
• Good coverage
• Oil Free
• Easy Application

Here are some Cons:

• Matching issues. There needs to be more color options for people of color
• Breaks down past the 5-6hr mark (on me)
• Must be "warmed up" with a colored setting powder as it appears ghostly without it.
• Fails to look like "skin." You will look like you are wearing makeup

Here is the video demo:

Have you tried this foundation?

Jewelry haul ft. Disney Couture, Ideeli & more

I wanted to share my recent jewelry haul with you. 

I shopped at Ideeli.com and Hautelook.com for all these pieces.

I love this bracelet from Ideeli! It fits really snug so Disney Couture did a good job with the fit even though I think it's a bit tight.

I got these earrings from Hautelook and they are by Amrita Singh. I love the rhinestones and the blue stone accents. Surprisingly they are really light and don't weight my ears down.

This last pair of earrings stole my heart! I bought them from Ideeli and they are from the Disney Couture line. They are the perfect way to say you are a disney fan in a grown up way.

Which are your faves?

Hide Your hair updos

It's that time of year again where Mr. autumn tries to dry our your hair. 

The perfect way to combat this is to simply hide your ends.

 Here are I show you 2 natural hair styles I will be doing the most to hide my ends.

Watch the tutorial below.

Urban Decay Smoked 24/7 Glide-On Pencils

You can NEVER have enough eyeliners! Urban Decay totally understands and with the Fall season vastly approaching, they have released the amazing Smoked eyeliner set. It compliments the recently released Smoked palette and I love that it's travel friendly!

What you get
Six pencils in all with two back by popular demand limited-edition shades and two new shades.

Demolition- Matte darkest chocolate brown
Empire- Matte dark eggplant purple
Mainline- Matte peacock blue (brand new!)
Smog- Metallic warm brown copper
Uzi- Metallic gunmetal w/silver micro-glitter
Zero- Award-winning, best-selling zealous black

**Empire, Smog & Uzi are only available in sets

I cant wait to get my hand on these pencils! They appear to be so much fun to experiment with a really awesome smokey eye look.

Urban Decay Smoked 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil Set ($38) is available at select Macy's stores, Ulta, online at Sephora.com, Macys.com, urbandecay.com, ultra.com and beauty.com

September Just Fab Picks

Hey Beauty Bunnies!

Just wanted to share my September picks from JustFab.com.

Want to know how it works?
Well, you head on over to Justfab.com and take a style quiz, then you get a personalized show room based on the answers you gave. This show room gets new shoes, jewelry and handbag choices for you every month. If you don't want to buy now? Just skip the month before the 5th of that month. Shipping is free and if you DO NOT skip, you are charged the member fee (price of the shoes) $39.95. Easy Right?

Sign up here and get you some amazing shoes! 

My first pick this month was the Phyllis flat.

I figured the pattern was perfect for fall. 

I also am in love with flowers so I fell in love with the print at the bottom.

 My second choice was the Patavia heel.

The metal plated straps drew my attention to the futuristic look of this shoe. 

I also love that it's not a sky high heel either.