What's in my makeup bag? - Products that I'm currently using!

What's in my makeup bag?

As a beauty blogger, I've tried so many different products over the years. At some points I had about 20 or more foundations at the same time, and was trying so many things and finishing none of them. Since my little break off from blogging, I've cut down on trying so many new things at once, and I'm finding myself repurchasing the same things over again - things that are reliable and that I love!

So, for the past several months (or more), these have been my staples!

MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation - I've gone through around 3-4 tubes of this so far, and I've been re-purchasing this foundation as soon as I run out. It has a solid medium coverage, and it's my go-to when I want my makeup to last on hours on end. It really does last me till the time I want to wash my face, and I don't find that it breaks apart or separates by the end of the night. I do prefer this over MAC's regular Pro Longwear Foundation, but I do like that one as well. ($33)

NARS Tinted Moisturizer - This is my go-to day wear foundation. The formula is creamy and moisturizing and it provides an SPF of 30, which is great for when you're out and about during the day. The coverage is light, but buildable, and evens out the skintone nicely and gives a fresh, clean look. A little expensive for a daily wearing tinted moisturizer, but for now, I'm loving it and I'm getting low on my second tube. ($44)

Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer - It wasn't love at first sight with this concealer, but after using it regularly, I've grown to love it. As I'm getting older, I find it much more difficult to find a concealer that doesn't age me or give me the "tired eye" look, and I find that this one doesn't accentuate dryness or fine lines. A definite winner in my book, and one that I will repurchase as soon as I run out. ($25)

Urban Decay Naked Concealer - Along with Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer, I like adding a layer of this concealer on top before I blend the two together. These two concealers work really well as a team, and I love how light and blendable this concealer is. It's a great one if you are looking for a pigmented concealer that doesn't have the density or weight of a standard (heavy) concealer. I like using this concealer in a lighter shade to brighten my under eyes. ($28)

Beauty Blender - I can't live without my beauty blender. I use it every day to apply my concealer, and I use a separate one to set my concealer with powder. It works more beautifully than any brush. ($20)

Urban Decay Naked Foundation First Impressions.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation ($38) is a newer foundation by Urban Decay that is described as being "light as air", with coverage that's buildable but ultimately making you look like you're wearing nothing at all.

"Naked Skin uses light-diffusing spheres to "blur" imperfections for a luminous, demi-matte finish that feels invisible but looks professionally retouched. Naked Skin is oil-free, paraben-free, fragrance-free, and loaded with nourishing ingredients. "

Naked Skin is available in (18) shades: 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0. Shades ending in .5 are cool toned, and shades ending in .0 are warm toned.

4.0 seems to be a really good match for my warm NC30-35 skintone. I could probably go one shade up if I'm really tan, as 4.0 is better geared for NC30.

From left to right: 2.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 8.0.

This foundation is often compared to Make Up Forever HD Foundation, and with MUFE HD being one of my favorite foundations, I was really curious to try Naked Skin. 

Although the sample I have doesn't have an adequate amount of foundation to properly test the foundation, I was able to gather some thoughts and decide whether it's a foundation I'd purchase or not.

First off, the consistency is very thin and velvety. It has a watery, silicone consistency (had I known this prior, I probably wouldn't have been curious to try it).

After blending a small amount of product on my face, the product almost played a magic trick - once it was completely blended, it looked like nothing was there. After examining the side of my face without foundation, I noticed that the foundation softened the appearance of my pores and gave a little color to my skin. I didn't notice much, if any coverage, but the side with foundation did look slightly better. With another coat of foundation, flaws were concealed a bit better, but still visible. Redness and any discolorations are evened out, pores are softened and my skin has a velvety matte finish. It feels completely weightless on my skin.

Urban Decay Vice Eyeshadow Palette Launching Soon!

Urban Decay Vice Palette for Fall 2012

Urban Decay launches the Vice Palette ($59) for fall—an insanely gorgeous new palette that’s ALL about eyeshadow. All twenty new shades (yes, twenty!) were created exclusively for the palette—you’ve never seen these colors before. With a range of mattes, shimmers, satins, neutrals and brights, there’s something for everyone.

It all comes housed in a sleek purple soft-touch case topped with a sparkling jeweled UD icon. The sophisticated case boasts a large mirror and a double-ended Good Karma Shadow and Crease Brush (a current customer favorite)! We even borrowed motion-control technology from the automotive industry--with the push of a button, the slow-opening lid dramatically unveils all 20 shades, seducing the eye with anticipation.

Every eyeshadow contains Urban Decay’s brand new Pigment Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power, and blendability.

The Vice Palette Collection includes:
Desperation – Taupe brown w/ satin finish
Muse – Deep sepia brown w/ multidimensional sparkle finish
Jagged – Metallic black gold w/ shimmer finish
Blitz – Metallic yellow gold w/ shimmer finish
Penny Lane – Metallic peachy bronze pearl w/ golden shimmer finish
Junkie – Dark green/blue pearl w/ golden shimmer
Chaos – Bright blue matte
Occupy – Metallic steel grey w/ multidimensional sparkle and shimmer finish
Unhinged – Metallic electric turquoise w/ shimmer finish
Black Market – Jet black satin
Provocateur – Light metallic mauve w/ multidimensional sparkle and shimmer finish
Rapture – Dark greyish purple w/ multidimensional shimmer finish
Vice – Deep eggplant purple w/ shimmer finish
Noise – Electric punch pink w/ gold sparkle and shimmer finish
Armor – Metallic dove grey w/ silver micro-glitter shimmer finish
Nevermind – Metallic cork w/ shimmer finish
Echo Beach – Pale wheat w/ shimmer finish
Anonymous – Opaque almond w/ matte finish
Free Bird – Pink champagne w/ silver micro-sparkle shimmer finish
Laced – Opaque pinky taupe w/ matte finish

A double-ended Shadow and Crease Brush is also included.

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The Vice Palette ($59) will be available on 9/15 online at urbandecay.com, and on 9/27 at Sephora, ULTA and select Macy’s stores. It will also be available for purchase online at Sephora.com, ulta.com, macys.com and beauty.com.

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Urban Decay Naked Palette Review, Photos and Swatches!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: You can look great NAKED! This long, lean, seductive case is packed with  twelve (12) gorgeous neutrals. Shades range from delicate champagnes to dark, gritty gunmetal, and feature five (5) new shades with names like Darkhorse, Virgin and Buck. We've also included a range of textures: everything from glitter to shimmer to matte. 

The chocolaty velvet case is emblazoned with the word "NAKED" in gold foil lettering. (Just wait 'til your friends see you pull this sexy thing out of your bag. Jealous!) The mirrored case also includes a professional quality, cruelty-free Good Karma Eyeshadow Brush, AND a travel-size Eyeshadow Primer Potion in original formula. This is a shadow palette everyone can use, and a truly spectacular gift. Experiment with office-appropriate neutrals, summertime bronzy looks, or sultry smokiness. With such a diversity of neutral shades at your fingertips, there's more to neutral than meets the eye.

The Urban Decay Naked Palette, as stated above contains twelve (12) shades: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep & Gunmetal.

The palette retails for $48, which sounds expensive, but is an extremely good value. Each shadow weighs in at .05 oz - which is the SAME size as a a regular Urban Decay full sized eyeshadow ($17 each) and actually, .01 oz larger than a full size MAC Eyeshadow (.04 oz, $14.50 each). In addition, you are getting a good brush, and a travel size Primer Potion.

Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked

Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

Swatches

Most shades in the Urban Decay Naked Palette are shimmery or frosted. The only two matte shades in this palette are Naked and Buck. Naked and Buck are actually two of my favorite shades in this palette - both being great blending shades and natural crease colors. Buck also works on my brows as a filler.

My favorite shades of all (and the ones that get the most love on a daily basis) are: Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog and Darkhorse. All of the shades are pigmented and apply smoothly. 

 Here's a recent eye look I did using only the Naked Palette. The main colors I used were Darkhorse, Half Baked, Buck and Creep.

I guess the only downside I can say about the palette is that there aren't enough matte shades, so for "daytime" looks, there aren't as many options. I also kinda wish the black was a matte black, rather than a shimmery black.

Also, I'm not a fan of the packaging. It's pretty for a short period of time, but soon after, the velvet attracts dust and the gold lettering starts to wear off.

Overall, I am very happy with it and I think it was very much worth the investment.

Do you own the Naked Palette?