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tarte Parisian-Inspired Holiday 2014 Collection: Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set

December 18, 2014 by Kim S. / blog, Makeup Looks, Product Swatches, Reviews / 11 Comments

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tarte cosmetics has done it again with their holiday sets. This year, they released a limited edition Parisian-inspired Holiday 2014 Collection that featured beauty sets that aligned with what most people do during the holiday season – travel. The beauty sets featured in this holiday collection are not only travel-friendly, they also come ready for gifting due to their beautiful packaging. This means you’re spending less time wrapping and packaging gifts.

tarte provided me with one of the nine sets available in their holiday collection, the Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set ($48). It was an Ulta exclusive set that included an array of beauty items perfect for creating multiple beauty looks on-the-go.

The tarte Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set includes the following:

16 full size, French-inspired Amazonian Clay Eye Shadows (0.07 oz. each)
4 full size Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes: Irresistible (soft melon), Envisioned (sheer coral), Limitless (peach rose), Intrigue (rose petal) (0.158 oz. each)
3 deluxe Maracuja Lip Glosses: Paris (raspberry), Cannes (light pink), Nice (nude mauve) (0.06 fl. oz. each)
Deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara
Portable collector’s compact (0.14 oz.)

I like that the set includes one of my favorite mascaras, the Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 mascara. This one is portable, and small enough to fit in your purse without taking up too much room.

The three Maracuja Lipglosses are beautiful, too. The colors, Paris, Cannes, and Nice, are named after popular Parisian cities that I hope to one day visit. Int he meantime, I guess I’ll have to settle with these glosses. They’re beautiful neutral shades that compliment any skintone.

Although the set included four full-sized Amazonian Clay 12-hour blushes, only one was suitable for my complexion, which was ‘Intrigue’. The other shades included in the tarte Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set , although pretty, were too light, and appeared chalky, at least against my complexion.

There were a few shadows in the set that also gave off a chalky appearance against my complexion, and had were patchy when applied, which you can see from the swatches. Most of the eyeshadows exhibiting this property were the lighter matte shades with a few of the darker matte shades following suit. My favorite shades, which I used to create the look you see in this post were: ‘Navigating the Metro’, ‘Midnight Stroll’, and ‘Liaison at the Louvre’. I love deep purple tones, and these looked great used together to create a smoky eye. I also liked ‘Marvel at the Mona Lisa’ for blending.

Let us not forget about the beautiful, quilted pattern, Tiffany Blue travel case with pearl-like accents. This is a cool feature since it allows you to pop in any one of the four palettes to tote along with you while you’re on the go. The compact also includes a mirror. Score! I don’t know about you, but, applying makeup on-the-go, unless it’s lip gloss is a ‘fail’ situation.

Even though there were some items in the tarte Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set that didn’t quite work out well for me, I do think it was a pretty decent set for someone with a more fair complexion. Plus, for $48, it was a great value.

Although, this set is currently sold out at Ulta, you can stop by tartecosmetics.com to check out all of their other amazing products like their mascara, brow products, and other best-selling items.

Tell me, what do you think about the tarte Away Oui Go Portable Palette & Collectors Set? Is it something you would gift or would like to receive as a gift?

Disclosure: Product provided by PR for review consideration. All opinions are my own and are honest.

Holiday Lips featuring MUA Makeup Academy Lip Products

December 15, 2014 by Kim S. / blog, Makeup Looks, Reviews / 26 Comments

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Holiday season means tons of holiday parties, photo ops, and more. This means, your look must be on point (or “on fleek”). It’s one thing to have your outfit, and hair looking nice, but your makeup should also compliment your ensemble for the occasion. One way to easily spruce up your look is by adding a nice lip color. Thankfully, MUA Makeup Academy has some beautiful lip colors to help you achieve the perfect holiday lips.

A popular, yet timeless holiday lip most seen during the holidays that take place during the month of December, is a classic red lip. MUA Makeup Academy’s High Shine lipstick in ‘Poppy’ is a gorgeous red with a hint of shine. ‘Poppy’ can be turned up by pairing it with winged liner and falsies, or toned down by wearing it with a neutral face. Either way, you can’t ever go wrong with a red lip.

For those women who just can’t get into brighter lipsticks, and just want to add just a hint of glam to their look, using MUA Makeup Academy’s ‘Frosted Nude’, which, by the way, is the perfect nude for my skin tone, is the way to go. It pairs well with a neutral makeup look with a golden glow, or turn it up with a smoky eye. For added glam, you can take your holiday lips to the next step by adding ‘Frosted Nude’ to the center of your lip, and poppy on the perimeter. Thank me later for your gorgeous pout.

Holiday Lips MUA Makeup Academy Frosted Poppy

Lip stains are perfect for creating holiday lips. Why? Because the color doesn’t budge. If you’re attending a lot of holiday parties, gatherings, etc. you need something that doesn’t move throughout the night, especially if you’re planning on taking pics. Nice face, but nothing on the lips? No bueno! Your look will just look unfinished. This is why I like MUA Makeup Academy’s lip stain in ‘Wine’. It’s such a beautiful purple-toned lip color, and it’s brown girl-friendly.

Before creating your holiday lip, be sure to follow these tips:

1. Exfoliate with a combination of sugar, olive oil, and a hint of honey.

2. Moisturize

3. Line your lips to prevent the lip product from bleeding

4. Apply the lip color, blot, and then apply another coat.

Now you have kissable, smooth, holiday lips!

What’s your favorite lip color to use when you’re creating a holiday lip?

Disclosure: Product provided for review consideration.

2014 Holiday Gift Guide: Beauty Edition

December 11, 2014 by Kim S. / blog, Miscellaneous / 22 Comments

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Two more weeks, just two more weeks! Are you ready? I’ll admit, I haven’t even finished my Christmas shopping even though I told myself I’d start early this year. Thankfully, most of the people I shop for have one thing in common – we all love beauty products. You can’t ever have enough beauty items. Plus, there’s always a new trend, new formula, or a new shade that every beauty enthusiast must have. I’ve put together this 2014 Holiday Gift Guide featuring Beauty items that should make shopping for the beauty and makeup lover in your life a bit easier. Plus, you may even find something for yourself that you like.

1. Box Subscription Services

Beauty Box Subscription services are a good way to go since they tend to cover a lot of ground area, and for a much lower price tag versus purchasing the items separately. Beauty Box Subscription services allow both new and veteran beauty enthusiasts to discover different brands, and new products. Do you remember my review of one of the June 2014 POPSUGAR Must Have Box over the summer? They’re great boxes for anyone, especially since they feature an assortment of items from beauty, to lifestyle to…

POP SUGAR Must-have boxes are available for a $39.95 monthly subscription at musthave.popsugar.com. There are boxes for both men and women. If you’re into luxury items, there’s even a Neiman Marcus Must-have box; however, that one is going fast so jump on it while you can.

2. New Fragrance

It’s the end of the year, and the start of a new season, which is a great time to incorporate new fragrances. Whether the person is into sultry scents, or warm floral fragrance, I’m sure there’s something you can find for anyone on your list.

3. Something for the lips

Pantone has just released their newest color of the year: Marsala. Guess what? Your beauty lover is probably searching for a marsala shade lipstick or gloss right now! Don’t worry, there are several brands, both affordable and high-end that carry this new shade. Your beauty lover will be happy, and you’ll look cool because you’re up on the latest trend. However, if they’re more into neutral tones, there’s something out there for them, too! Remember to get a good liner; we do not want their new lippies feathering.

4. Make sure they have awesome brows

A makeup look, in my opinion is not complete without awesome brows. Brows do not have to be overly sculpted with concealer, however, they can be well tamed with a gel, or filled in where needed for a polished look. There are so many options out there to achieve perfect brows, from powders, to pencils, to gels, and sets with stencils. There’s literally something for everyone, even for those who are just beginning.

5. Palettes! One can’t ever have enough makeup palettes

One thing about beauty fanatics is that we accumulate a lot of items, especially [eyeshadow] palettes. The thing is, we can’t ever seem to get enough, even though it may seem like the colors are of similar shades. You’re wrong because one shade may be slightly warmer or deeper, or even more pigmented. It doesn’t matter. We just need it! There are a couple of new palettes out that feature neutral shades, fun and colorful shades, and some with a mixture of both. Either way, whichever one you choose as a gift, I’m sure your beauty lover will thank you for it.

6. Beauty tools

As a makeup artist and beauty fanatic. I’m a firm believer that one can’t ever have enough makeup brushes or application tools. I like having options. Plus, with all of the craze with highlighting and contouring, we need good blending tools and brushes for a flawless makeup application.

If you enjoyed reading this 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: Beauty Edition, please head over to Beauty and the Bump to check out my other gift guides.

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. Affiliate links.

Blogazons $250 Sephora Holiday Giveaway

December 1, 2014 by Kim S. / blog, Giveaways / 0 comments

Singing, “Wake up, wake up, wake up. It’s the first of the month…” by Bone Thugs n Harmony. Why? Because it’s the 1st of December, which means “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go.” Just because it’s the holidays, which is the time or giving and giving back, the members of the Blogazons, myself included, have banded together to bring you a $250 Sephora Holiday Giveaway!!!

Imagine, $250 to go on a Sephora shopping spree! What would you pick up for yourself? Or, will you pay it forward by picking up something for a family member or friend? Either way, the winner will walk away with a $250 Sephora gift card to ball out on the latest beauty, skincare, and/or fragrance items of their choice.

Entering the Blogazons $250 Sephora Holiday Giveaway is easy as pie. Just fill out the widget below.

For extra entries, regram and tag a friend on instagram.

This giveaway is open to the following countries: Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, and United States