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Fragrance Friday: Paco Rabanne Lady Million

November 8, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Miscellaneous, Reviews / 8 Comments

Paco Rabanne Lady Million was created by three of the biggest names in perfumery: Anne Flipo, Béatrice Piquet and Dominque Ropion. They created this scent, keeping the signature, 1 Million’s charisma without it being as strong. Don’t worry, Paco Rabanne Lady Million is just as seductive as its predecessor with the help of bitter orange and raspberry.

Notes: Neroli, Bitter Orange, Raspberry, Orange Flower Absolute, Sambac Jasmine Absolute, Gardenia, Patchouli, Honey, Amber.

Paco Rabanne Lady Million is the perfect feminine fragrance for women, like myself, who prefer fresh, floral and woody scents. It is also the perfect mixture of soft and deep tones, which make it an excellent option for an daytime or evening scent. The Lady Million woman isn’t timid nor withdrawn. She’s the complete opposite. The Lady Million woman is glamorous, seductive, vivacious (this cracks me up as I think about when my pastor called my sister’s and me vivacious), and bold. Extravagant yet positive, seductive yet embodying a romantic soul, excessive but never satisfied, Lady Million is a dazzling femme fatale, creative and untamed.

I’m a sucker for nice packaging when it comes to my perfumes, and love the gold, diamond-shaped bottle of Paco Rabanne Lady Million. The Lady Million bottle was designed by Noe Duchaufour-Lawrence to capture Lady Million’s eternal, expressive, glittering, ultra-feminine and breathtaking beauty, forever synonymous with desire and passion. The diamond-shaped bottle is simple, clear and clean, which exudes all of the delicateness of a multi-faceted diamond. And just like a diamond, the bottle does not have a specific base, but may be placed on any surface. Sensual, feminine and curved, the bottle sits comfortably in the hand, sprays easily. The shape and size of the bottle allows you to tote it around in your bag to freshen up during the day.

Lady Million

Paco Rabanna Lady Million can be purchased at Sephora or Sephora.com

Paco Rabanna Lady Million Eau de Parfum 2.7 fl oz $88

Paco Rabanna Lady Million Eau de Parfum 1.7 fl oz $65

Paco Rabanna Lady Million Eau de Parfum 1.0 fl oz $48

Shower Gel 2.5 fl oz $45

Body Lotion 2.5 fl oz $40

Have you tried Paco Rabanne Lady Million? Do you prefer this or 1 Million?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Review: Lorac Pro Palette is the best eyeshadow palette ever! {Swatches}

November 3, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Reviews / 18 Comments

The Lorac Pro Palette has been on my Christmas wish list as well as my birthday wish list several times. Finally, for my 29th birthday, my best friend purchased it for me!!! It was honestly the best gift ever.

Description of the Lorac Pro Palette:

The Lorac Pro Palette was created by celebrity makeup artist, Carol Shaw, and features 16 ultra-pigmented eye shadows infused with soothing botanicals and a mini Behind The Scenes Eye Primer.
The palette, created specifically for professional makeup artists, features 8 matte and 8 shimmer eyeshadows, which are easy to identify since the top row are all matte, and the bottom are all shimmer.

Top Matte Bottom Shimmer — Top Matte
Bottom Shimmer

Matte Shades: White, Cream, Taupe, Light Pink, Mauve, Sable, Espresso, Black

Shimmer Shades: Nude, Champagne (Sparkle), Gold, Lt. Bronze, Pewter, Garnet (Shimmer), Deep Purple, Slate

The Lorac Pro Palette Doesn’t Contain:
– Sulfates
– Petrochemicals
– Phthalates
– GMOs
– Triclosan

My Thoughts:

I own both the Urban Decay Naked 1 and Naked 2 palettes. I honestly can’t see why everyone loves them. Sure, they have beautiful neutral shades, but, they’re mostly shimmer! I’m a lady who likes variety, and I’m not too fond of all shimmer everything. Like, what am I going to blend with? The purpose of a palette is to have everything you need (and more) on hand, in one package.

I love that the Lorac Pro Palette has an equal amount of matte and shimmer shades, which for me, and the work that I do, is more practical. Plus, it makes it the perfect eyeshadow palette for a woman of any age to use. Although this palette contains shimmer, it isn’t teenage girl shimmer. To me, it is more satin and refined.

The Lorac Pro Palette is EVERYTHING! I love that I can use the Taupe, Sable and Espresso shades to fill eyebrows, or even contouring and blending. There are perfect highlighting shades, and colors like Deep Purple, Garnet and Pewter for example, help create sultry smoky eyes. The Lorac Pro Palette makes it easy to create subtle daytime looks, as well as dramatic evening looks. You can also increase the intensity of each shade by using the eyeshadows wet or dry. I love using it on brides. In fact, one of my favorite, and simple looks to do with this is to brush Champagne all over the lid up to the crease, then use a smudge brush to smudge Deep Purple into the lash line (add some to the lower lash line for drama), then use a blending brush to blend Deep purple into the outer-v and a tad into the crease. Blend out just a tad with the Taupe shade.

The texture of the eyeshadows of the Lorac Pro Palette remind me of the eyeshadows from my IT Cosmetics palette – velvety smooth. For powder eyeshadows, they feel extremely soft and somewhat creamy, if that makes any sense, and they apply and blend with ease.

The eyeshadows pack pigment with or without an eyeshadow primer. And speaking of primer, I’ve tried the Lorac Mini Behind the Scenes Primer, and I didn’t love it. I mean, it made the eyeshadows pop a little more, but, it sucked in helping the eyeshadows stay. I have oily lids, and after a few hours my shadow was creasing after using this primer. When I use my Stila Prime Pot (review) or UDPP, the eyeshadow from the Lorac Pro Palette lasts all day (I’m talking 8+ hours). It also applies really easily with very little fall-out, if any at all.

The packaging of the Lorac Pro palette is simple; black with silver embossed lettering. I love it. I’m all about simplicity. Plus, it is compact and lightweight, which makes it easy to tote around. Carol Shaw definitely kept makeup artists in mind when designing this palette.

Would I recommend the Lorac Pro Palette?

I would purchase this palette over and over. It is definitely worth the $42 it retails for. Due to it’s high pigmentation, you use very little, so it will easily last you a good while unless you’re a makeup artist and use it daily on several different clients.

The Lorac Pro Palette can be found at Sephora, Kohls and Ulta.

LORAC Pro Palette

What do you think of the Lorac Pro Palette?

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Fragrance Friday: Bvlgari Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum the Perfume for Real Women

November 1, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Miscellaneous, Reviews / 12 Comments

Bvlgari Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum, 3.4 ounces

I’ve wanted the Bvlgari Jamin Noir Eau de Parfum since sampling it while at Sephora last year. My lucky starts sent me a Groupon Goods deal for the 3.4 fl oz bottle of the Bvlgari Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum for $55.99, which is a steal when compared to the $125-150 it retails for.

Bvlgari Jamin Noir Eau de Parfum can be described as a beautiful, mature, seductive, sophisticated and refined scent. When I say mature, I am not speaking of your mom or grandmother’s mature. It’s far from an old lady’s fragrance. It’s a sexy and sensual scent that makes me feel like a woman, and not a girl. If you’re into candy-like fragrances, this one is not for you.

I’m a sucker for woodsy scents, and at times, florals. The Bvlgari Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum is the perfect combination of both. It isn’t overly sweet, and not at all overpowering. What’s best is that, for me, it lasts all day. The florals, gardenia petals, and green sap provide the femininity, while notes of precious wood, satiny almond, tonka bean provide the masculine sensuality that I love in any fragrance I wear. Due to these attributes, I’d definitely wear this on a date night or evening out.

I’ve always loved the packaging of Bvlgari’s perfumes, which embody the character and essence of the Bvlgari brand. The the Bvlgari Jamin Noir Eau de Parfum bottle exudes luxury with its simple, sleek black bottle and gold cap.

I would definitely repurchase Bvlgari Jasmin Noir, but, since I am not using this daily, it will take me a while to get there. Plus, Bvlgari Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum, since it is a more warm fragrance, I will most likely only use it during the fall and winter months. I do want to pick up Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir since I liked that one, too! Hopefully, I can pick up a bottle for 20% off during Sephora’s VIB sale that’s coming this November 7^th – November 11^th Code: VIBTOPIA.

Event Recap: Ladies Home Journal Get Social #LHJGetSocial

October 24, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Reviews / 7 Comments

Ladies Home Journal put together an informative social event, Ladies Home Journal Get Social (#LHJGetSocial) for bloggers at the 404 Event Space. Ladies Home Journal’s theme is “Women inspiring women”, so what better way to kick off the event than with fellow bloggers like Joy The Baker and Kendi of Kendi Everyday, who gave inspirational speeches about how they made businesses out of blogging. There was also a panel with a blogger who went on to writing a book, as well as an editor and an agent that spoke on the best ways bloggers can get a book published.

My favorite part of the event was listening to both Joy and Kendi speak. Both bloggers made statements about taking the leap, and having faith in yourself and what you’re doing. I know there are a lot of us bloggers who have full-time jobs, and are worried about leaving and not knowing where the next paycheck will come from. Joy The Baker believes collaborating with other bloggers in her niche has helped her blogging career, and suggests that it is a tool every blogger should look into using. She also believes commenting on like blogs helps put you out there as well.

Sponsors of the event included Birkenstock, Chinet, CocoaVia, Cottonelle, Ford Warriors in Pink, Neutrogena, Silpada, and Diamond of California Nuts.

Silpada had an arm candy bar that featured shimmering blue gumballs, along with an assortment of chocolate candies in shades of white and blue. They even had sixlets! I loved those as a kid. Attendees also had the opportunity to try-on some Silpada jewelry and stunt with it in their photo booth. We were even able to choose from a set of bracelets to take home.

Birkenstocks had a booth setup with an assortment of their ‘gizeh’ sandal. I already own a pair in black patent, which I’ve worn almost every day since the warm weather hit. Luckily, Ladies Home Journal Get Social attendees were allowed to take a pair home! I chose the orange pair. I was told that Birkenstock is working on making shoes! I can’t wait to see how they look. I’m sure they will be super comfy! Check my instagram, MakeupbyKimPorter for photos.

For the past 19 years Ford has been dedicated to fighting breast cancer donating over $120 million dollars. Ford Warriors in Pink Collection has apparel for men, women and kids where 100% of proceeds from the sale of any item goes to one of four breast cancer organizations that Warriors in Pink supports including: The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, The Pink Fund, Young Survivors Coalition, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Additional information and the entire collection is available at http://www.warriorsinpink.ford.com/.

We also were able to munch on some of Joy’s goodies from her recipe book!

Overall, the Ladies Home Journal Get Social Event was amazing. I was happy to be a part of a group of women that Ladies Home Journal felt important and interesting enough to want to get social, and worth with. I am looking forward to more collaboration with Ladies Home Journal in the future.