Weekly Makeup Basket 9/15/2013 - Items and Final Thoughts

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

So, I did do my weekly makeup basket again this week. I just didn't get around to posting the selection shots earlier in the week. This will be a combo post of both the items that I used this week and my thoughts.

For face:

Face Powder = Rimmel Stay Matte in Creamy Natural

Foundations = Urban Decay Naked Skin in 3.5 and No 7 Beautifully Matte in Cool Beige

Blushes = Mac Mineralize Blush in Dainty (on right) and Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Blush in Sweet Cheeks (on left)

For Eyes:

Shadows: My three new Maybelline Eye Studio Quads in Fall Temptation (bottom), Desert Fantasy (middle), and Violet Femmes (top). Added in Urban Decay Naked Basics to have some matte shades for blending. 

Liners: Mac Pearlglide Eye Liner in Rave and Urban Decay 24/7 in Hustle. 

For Lips:

I did pick out some products for lips, but since I didn't end up using them (again!) I'm not going to post them.

Final Thoughts:

• The Maybelline Eye Studio Quads are really great. They are shimmery, but they aren't extremely metallic and they don't have any chunky glitter. My favorite is the Fall Temptation one. Those two middle shades are really gorgeous if you use the peach on the lid and the bronzey color in the crease. If I had to only pick one quad out of the three to buy, Fall Temptation would definitely be my pick. 
• Mac Pearlglide Eye Liners are fantastic. They have the same creamy ease of application that the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils have. I definitely recommend giving them a try if you see a color the interests you. 
• I really like the No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation. I don't think it's a really matte foundation like the Hourglass Immaculate is. It dries down to an almost satiny feel and I feel that it gives medium coverage, but you might be able to build it up to full. I felt that it definitely cut back on the oily mid-day shine. Paired with the Rimmel Stay Matte gives it great staying power. 
• The Be a Bombshell blush is one that I got in an ipsy bag, and while the shade is a pretty color, it is a little too frosty for my liking. I'll hold on to it for now though. 
• Mac Dainty is a gorgeous light peach shade. I think this might work better for me in the winter when I'm a little paler. 

So, those are my thoughts. Next week I think I might make a mineral eyeshadow week. I may break out my sample binder of shadows and try to focus on just using those colors for my eye looks. Will probably add Urban Decay Naked Basics into the mix just to have some mattes easily on hand though.

Have you had a chance to try out any of the new Maybelline Eye quads? If so, let me know which one you are liking the most.

Maybelline Eye Studio Fall 2013 - Violet Femmes, Fall Temptation, and Desert Fantasy - Swatches and Pictures

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

Maybelline has some new Eye Studio quads out for Fall 2013. I purchased three of them and I have to say, these were a lot better than the Wet N Wild Trios I reviewed last week. For the most part, these three quads have great pigmentation. They swatch wonderfully and have a silky feel to them.

First Up, Desert Fantasy

This is probably my favorite of the three. And, it's funny because I didn't purchase the other two first and went back for this one. The first shade is a light peachy gold. Followed by a true yellow gold color. The third shade is an awesome olive. And the last shade is black. It's not a true black though and applies almost as a matte shade. The first three shades are metallic, but they are not glittery. 

Next up, Fall Temptation

Probably my second favorite. Starts off on the left with a really nice metallic sand shade. Then there is that peachy gold shade. It swatches similar to the first shade in the Desert Fantasy quad. Followed by a metallic reddish brown and ending with a matte dark brown. These shadows all swatched smoothly and had great pigmentation.

Last up, Violet Femmes

This one is just gorgeous in the pan. I wasn't as in love with it after I swatched it though. It starts off with an icy almost white pink metallic shade. Followed by a light violet brown metallic. Then when you get to the last 2 shades, they didn't swatch as smoothly. They had great pigmentation, but I sense there could be some fallout with these two if you aren't careful. Even though the third shade looks violet in the pan, it applies as more of a cranberry color. The last shade is a metallic dark purple. This quad does not have a matte dark shade like the other two. 

All in all, I'm really happy with these quads. I would recommend these over the Wet N Wild Trios that are out. These were much easier to work with although slightly more expensive. If metallic shadows are not your thing though, then you'll want to pass on these quads. I'm planning on putting these in my upcoming makeup basket for the week and giving them a good test drive. Stay tuned for reviews at the end of the upcoming week. 

Did you purchase any of these? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Green Mountain Coffee - Pumpkin Spice K Cups Spotted - Welcome to Fall

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I was in Target yesterday and they are finally putting out Halloween stuff. It seems like it took them forever this year. I guess I shouldn't complain cause it usually feels like the stores are trying to rush us through the holidays. But, on my trek down the food section, I spotted one of my favorite fall coffees, Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice.

Behold the K cup in all its glory:

This coffee is just great. It is a light roast so it's not too strong on the coffee flavor. This allows the pumpkin spice flavors to come to the front. It has a sweet pumpkin flavor with a mix of cinnamon. The cinnamon is not overpowering. It compliments the pumpkin well. If you are like me and have a love of all things pumpkin, then go grab yourself a box of these.

Drinking it out of my Crate and Barrel Halloween mug, how appropriate! I picked this up last year from there so not sure if it was a limited edition design or not. I love big and crazy mugs. If a mug can't fit the coffee from the Keurig large setting with room to add milk, then it's just too small.

Also, if you head to Target, keep an eye out for the M&M Fall flavors. There are milk chocolate pumpkin spice and white chocolate candy corn M&Ms and I've tried both and they taste awesome.

Let me know if you've spotted or picked up any fall goodies at the store.

Weekly Makeup Basket - 9/8/2013 - Final Thoughts

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I've decided Saturday and Sunday will be my off makeup basket days so I can just do whatever I feel like doing. I'll restrict myself to the basket Monday-Friday. Some notes on my weekly makeup basket for the week of 9/8/2013:

Products Added

None

Products Not Used

Hourglass Immaculate
All My Lip Products :(

Some noteworthy thoughts on the products that I used:

Laura Geller Balance and Brighten in Fair - I LOVE this stuff. Seriously. You can use it alone as a foundation. It gives great coverage and evens out your skin tone. You can use it over foundation and it helps to set your look and make everything look flawless. Also, it seems to last forever. I'm been working on my current compact for over a year now, using it off and on. I will definitely repurchase this product when I run out. The bonus being that sometimes you can get it as part of a TSV deal on QVC with extra products.  

Laura Geller Balance and Bronze in Medium - Again, I LOVE this stuff too. This is the best bronzer hands down. I've tried other, but none have come close to how easy this bronzer is to use. It's never orange. It gives your skin almost a pinky-brown glow. It looks totally natural and it comes in different shade options depending on your skin tone. I've used both the fair and the medium with great results depending on how much bronzing I was in need of and how tan my skin is. I will never be without this bronzer. 

I'm really bad at remembering to use my lipsticks and glosses. My problem is that I get ready in the morning, and I have a big cup of coffee with me. I always finish my makeup first and I don't see the need to put on lipstick while I'm actively drinking something. Then I forget to take my lipsticks with me. I could apply them before I leave the house or when I get to work, but again, I'm most likely getting another cup of coffee once I get in the building (yah, I'm a bit of a coffee addict in the morning). So, even the ones I do have in my purse hardly get used. And it's not that I have naturally good looking pigmented lips. I could definitely use some lipstick, I'll admit that. Anyone else have this issue or am I just lipstick challenged? Let me know.

And stay tuned for next week's makeup basket picks. 

Wet N Wild Tough Girl Beauty Army Shadow Trios - Photos and Swatches

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I recently found the Wet N Wild Eyeshadow Trios from the Beauty Army collection. I was able to hunt them down at a local Walgreens. They were on a side endcap display. Each trio was on sale for $2.00 a piece. I picked up 3 of the 6 available trios. The three I picked up are Enlisting for Beauty, Soldiers in Charms, and Zero Dark Flirty.

All swatches were done over Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. First up, Enlisting for Beauty.

Probably the worst pigmentation of the three. I can barely see the Browbone and Lid shades on my hand. Maybe it you are pale, this would work but if you are medium toned, stear clear.

Next up, Soldiers in Charms

Okay pigmentation. Not as good as I was expecting for Wet N Wild. That middle crease shade is gorgeous in the pan and the pigmentation on that one is okay. The others I found I had to work at a bit to get them to apply consistently and show up as well as they are.

Last up, Zero Dark Flirty

While the pigmentation looks okay in the photo, I really had to layer on the color with these to get them to show up. Overall I felt that they applied kind of splotchy. Not as creamy an application as I typically get with Wet N Wild shadows.

So overall, I'm not very impressed with these trios. I mean, Enlisting for Beauty is pretty much useless and the other two are fine but difficult to work with/blend. I don't think it would be the base that was causing that issue since Nars Pro Prime tends to make shadow stick like glue.

Anyone have better experience with the other three trios? Did I just get a bad batch? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Weekly Makeup Basket - 9/8/2013 - Items

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I'm a little late posting and I kind of hap-hazardly pulled out some items to use for the week. My weekly makeup basket is as follows:

For face products I'm using the following:

Face Powder = Laura Geller Balance and Brighten in Fair - Love this stuff so much. As you can see, I've worn the top off of it. 

Bronzer = Laura Geller Balance and Bronze in Medium - Again, love this stuff so much. It's the best bronzer I've ever used. So natural. 

Blushes - Benefit Dallas and Tarte Peaceful - Two great blushes that I need to get more use out of. 

For Eyeshadows I have 2 palettes: Lorac Glogetter and Kat Von D Saint. Mainly neutrals with some fun colors thrown in on the Lorac Palette. The Kat Von D palette comes with a black eyeliner which I'm including along with my BareMinerals Round the Clock Eyeliner in 9 PM which is a nice cool dark brown.

Somehow the Maybelline Bad to the Bronze didn't end up in the eye shadow shot, but I'm including that as well this week. For lipglosses I've got Mac Cremesheen Glass in Celestial Kiss and Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Fame.

For Lipsticks I've chosen Wet N Wild Megashield Lipcolor in Peachy Keen, Loreal Colour Riche in Cherry Tulle, and Mac Kinda Sexy. 

And for foundations I'm keeping my Hourglass Immaculate Foundation and including my Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation. 

Stay tuned for my thoughts on this week's picks. 

Weekly Makeup Basket - 9/1/2013 - Final Thoughts

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

Some notes on my weekly makeup basket for the week of 9/1/2013:

Products Added

Mac Mocha Lipstick

Revlon Raspberry Pie Lip Butter

Products Not Used

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Lavish Lavender

Mac Mineralize Lipstick in Lady at Play

Mac Chromagraphic Pencil

Some noteworthy thoughts on the products that I used:

Hourglass Immaculate is just wonderful if you have oily skin. It truly gives a matte finish and helps to keep the oilies at bay. I do get some breakthrough oil at times, but it's a lot less than with other foundations. I will most likely carry this over into next week's makeup basket. 

Loreal True Match Lumi - I like this foundation, but it's very glowy. It definitely gives a dewy finish (hence the "Lumi" in the name). Probably wasn't the best pick for a late summer makeup basket. I think I would like this more in the winter when it's typically a drier climate.

Nars Laguna - This bronzer was way too light for me. I could hardly tell that I even put bronzer on. As a result, I had to layer it a bit. Will hold on to it and try it during the winter when I'm paler than I am now. My holy grail bronzer is the Laura Geller Bronze and Brighten. Will probably include that in next week's basket. 

Benefit Coralista - I love this blush. Such a nice coral healthy glow it gives and it blends really nicely. 

Illamasqua Hussy - This blush was a PITA to blend in. It's also extremely pigmented. A little goes a very long way. It was weird though because I found that if I applied it too lightly, I couldn't see it. I had to apply it on the heavier side and then use a kabuki to buff it out a bit to get the best wearable payoff. 

Lancome Color Fever Rose Defile - I love this lipstick. It's the perfect pinky nude for me. I'm sad though that I can't get a backup of it. I'm not sure if this was just always a limited edition shade or not. I got it in one of those gifts with purchase bonuses a while back. I need to try to figure out a dupe for this cause it really is a great color. 

Mac Lipglass in Flash of Flesh - I really think that I dislike Mac Lipglasses. They are just so thick and sticky. I did use this the day that I added in Mac Mocha though and it made a nice topper for that lipstick. I applied it just to the center of the bottom lip and then blended. 

I had to do a real neutral look today because something is going on in with my eyelid creases. I've been loving the NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base lately, but I think it dried out my eyelids. They were sore and painful, to the point that I used no primer today and just stuck with using my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. Might have to give me eyes a break through the weekend and moisturize to see if I can get things back to normal. 

Stay tuned for next week's makeup basket picks. 

Weekly Makeup Basket - 9/1/2013 - Items

**All products mentioned were purchased by me. I'm not affiliated with any companies mentioned.**

I think I'm going to start doing a weekly makeup basket series in September to try and use more of my collection. If you aren't familiar with these, this is where you basically pull out a makeup bag or tray and load it up with products from your collection. The idea is to stick to using just those products for the entire week. It's a good way to help you experiment with what you already own and see whether you want to keep or discard items from your collection. I have an embarrasingly large amount of eye shadow palettes in my collection. Maybe by doing this I can start to weed out some that are past their prime or not worth holding onto? We'll see.

So the products that I'm including in my makeup basket for the week are as follows (detailed list follows after the pics):

1. Foundations - I'm including my Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation in Golden and my Loreal True Match Lumi in C3 Creamy Natural. Both seem to be working with my skin tone well at the moment and since that Hourglass one is spendy at over $50 a bottle, you'll probably be seeing it included all month. I want to try to get the most use out of it in case my skin tone starts to change (which I'm sure it will start to in another month or so) due to the season change. I'm also not sure the formula will work for me once the weather starts getting drier and cooler. I've been loving it all through humid August though.
2. Powder - Rimmel Stay Matte in Creamy Natural - This is probably a bit light for me at the moment but I've been enjoying the formula lately. It really does help cut down on the oilies when combined with the Hourglass foundation. 
3. Bronzer - Nars Laguna - I have a mini one that I got in a kit that I just haven't paid much attention to so now seems like as good a time as any.
4. Blush - Benefit Coralista and Illamasqua Hussy - Both are bright which I can handle for now. Coralista being more on the coral/peachy side and Hussy being more on the bright pink side.
5. Eye Bases - Mac Soft Ochre and Maybelline Color Tattoo in Lavish Lavender
6. Eyeshadow Palettes - Stila In the Moment, Urban Decay Naked Basics, Wet N Wild Comfort Zone, ELF Little Black Beauty Book Warm Edition. Should be more than enough to keep me occupied for the week. I've been wanting to start playing around with purples more and there are some great ones in the Stila In the Moment Palette. 
7. Eyeliners - Stila Smudgestick in Tetra and Urban Decay 24/7 in Hustle - Dark Brown is the shade I normally gravitate towards for liner and Hustle will meet that need. Tetra comes with the In the Moment Palette and is a nice plummy shade so will work well with purples.
8. Lips - MAC Mineralize Rich Lady at Play, Lancome Color Fever Rose Defile, Loreal Color Riche in Sultry Raven's Pout (same as Fairest Nude), Buxom Dolly Gloss, and Mac Lipglass in Flash of Flesh.
9. Misc - MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NW25/NC30. I've had this forever and haven't really done much with it so want to make a point of trying to incorporate it this week. 

Things I'm not including in the breakdown - Moisturizers, Primers, Eye Primers, Mascara, Brow Products - These items I don't feel the need to limit myself to at the moment. Either I don't keep a lot of these in rotation (such as mascara) or I tend to use the same products for days before switching it up anyway (moisturizer, eye primers). 

At the end of the week I'll be doing a follow up post on how the week went, if I decided to chuck anything, or some follow up thoughts on the products used.

Let me know if you've done weekly makeup baskets and if you've found them helpful or not.