Neutral Eyeshadow Palette Comparisons ~ The Original Naked Palette

I'm sure you're all familiar with this lovely little palette, so all I really want to touch on are some of my favorite shades:

Virgin: The far left shade - you can tell this is a favorite, I'm almost out! It is the most perfect brow highlight I've ever used, light and shimmery but not overly frosty!
Sin: Right next to Virgin is my second fave - again, I've majorly hit pan! This is a pinkish champagne shimmer, really fantastic to just sweep over the lid!
Half Baked: A classic shade in many Urban Decay palettes, this one is still a winner no matter how many times I see it - a fantastic gold shimmer that goes amazingly well with a ton of looks, from brown neutrals to smokey blacks to purples!

XOXO,
Ally

Money-Saving Beauty Tips!

Who doesn't love to save money? Personally, there's nothing I love more than a good deal, especially when it comes to buying new beauty products! Here are a few of my top tips for looking your best without breaking the bank!

1. Cross check coupons with drug store sales! If you spot a beauty coupon online or in your weekly newspaper, make sure to check the sales at your local CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, or other drug store! That particular brand might already be on sale, and you can normally stack manufacturer's coupons with store deals!

2. Use reward points to get more points. Stores like CVS and Walgreens offer reward programs where you can get money back to spend in store after buying certain items or spending a certain amount of money. If you use these bucks to score other deals that will also give you reward points, you can keep earning money back while spending only a little out of pocket.

3. Find multi-tasking items to start out your makeup kit. If you're a makeup newbie, instead of buying a huge variety of products all at once, stick with just a few that can be used all over the face. Bronzer and highlighter can double as eyeshadows, and lipstick can be used as blush. Or, find a makeup palette with some bronze and pink shades in it, so you can use it on the eyes and face! Then, slowly stock up to grow your collection!

4. Research, research, research! This is a biggie for me - I rarely buy any beauty product without doing a quick Google search first. That way, I have a better idea of how a product works, and I can better decide if it's worth buying or not. It can be really hard to tell if you're going to like a product just by starting at the packaging, so doing a bit of research first can save you from buying a dud!

XOXO,
Ally

The Balm Betty-Lou Manizer Swatches

It's hard to decide if this product should be classified as a bronzer or a highlight - it's a dark bronzey shade, but it's also super shimmery. If you like shimmery bronzers, this would definitely be a product for you! But if not, this is best saved for a summer highlight for those of us with paler complexions. If you have a darker skin tone, this would probably look beautiful as an everyday highlight for you!

As long as you're expecting the shimmer, this product is great! I personally don't like using it all over my face, because that's a bit too much shimmer for me - but if that's your look, go for it!

Another thing to keep in mind is that this product would actually make a beautiful shimmery bronze eye shadow!

(Ignore the burn on the bottom of my hand, guys - #curlingwandproblems)

XOXO, 

Ally

Neutral Eyeshadow Palette Comparisons ~ Part 1: Introduction

As much as I love colorful eyeshadow, I have to admit that neutral palettes are way more practical, even for me! Recently, there have been a ton of different neutral palettes put out, so I wanted to snap a few pictures of the palettes that I own, to give you guys a better idea of what's available!

I'm gonna be posting about each of these five palettes next Monday - Friday, one per day. Luckily, the prices range from drugstore to high-end, so there should be something for everyone! And of course, let's hope for some dupes in there!

XOXO,

Ally

wet n wild Fergie On Edge Longwearing Eye Liner Swatches!

I picked up these eye pencils in the shades HyperSky (the blue) and Ex-Stacey (the pink) the other day at Walgreens, and they were too pretty not to swatch right away! I love brightly colored liners like these, they add such a fun touch to any makeup look!

Fantastic pigmentation on these! They were very creamy - almost a little too soft, in some cases - and smudged pretty easily, but I'm not sure how they would fare on the eyes because I haven't worn them yet. But I'm sure I'll find a fun way to wear both of these for a pop of color!

XOXO,
Ally

CVS/Walgreens Drugstore Haul!

I did a bit of prowling around the drugstores this weekend, looking for new Halloween displays, sales, and anything else that seemed exciting! Here's the total damage:

And read on for details and close-up shots!

wet n wild Coloricon Bronzer, Reserve Your Cabana - This is way more of a highlight than a bronzer, but it's one of my absolute favorites....I actually dropped and broke mine a few months ago, and I've been missing it so much that I needed another! Out of everything I purchased, this is the one thing I would 100% recommend, because I've used it before and it is lovely!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 660 Indi-glow - It's hard to see in the picture, but this is a pretty purple/indigo jelly polish with green/gold glitter. SO stunning in person!

Maybelline Baby Lips Crystal, Crystal Kiss and Pink Quartz - The Crystal line of Baby Lips is the only line that I haven't tried yet, so I figured I'd give a couple of shades a try! I LOVE the pink glittery packaging!!

wet n wild Eyeshadow Brush and Angled EyeShadow Brush - these were both only $.99! Not sure how great they'll be, but for a buck each, I have no problem giving them a chance, Plus, if nothing else, they'll look cute with my other brushes!

wet n wild Megalast Nail Color, Rouge 66 - This is a matte red shade that I actually used to paint my toes yesterday! I like it a lot, the color was very opaque and the matte texture is extremely pretty! It's not quite as matte as I would have thought, there's still a little shine to it, but a matte topcoat would fix that if you want it as matte as possible.

e.l.f. Snow White "The Fairest of Them All" Eye Collection - I just had to have this set for the cute Snow White themed palette. I think this is a situation where I was suckered in by the packaging, but for just $5, I don't even mind! The palette is completely darling!

e.l.f. Ariel "Under the Sea Eyes" - Again, the cute packaging won me over! That burgundy/purple shade in the bottom duo looked like it would be nice for fall, so I have some high hopes for this one!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 770 Copa-Banana - This glitter was just too fun to pass up! I haven't used it yet, but it seems a little sparse, so this may be a polish that requires a lot of effort.....hopefully it's worth it!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 930 Mind Your Manors - This chunky glitter is a mix of pink, green, and blue, and looks simply amazing!

wet n wild Fergie Longwearing Eye Pencil, Ex-Stacey and HyperSky - I couldn't pass up a bright pink and blue liner! I love to incorporate color into my eye looks, so these are practically made for me!

wet n wild Megaslicks Balm Stain, 2AM Call Time - I think this product is a part of the Halloween limited edition collection, because it has a "limited edition" sticker on it - don't quote me, though!! Either way, the deep purple shade is great for fall!

e.l.f. Beauty Book, Class of 2014 - I'm not sure if this palette has some sort of official name other than "Class of 2014," but either way, when I saw it at Walgreens I had my heart set on getting it! I just graduated college, so the class of 2014 is very special to me, and I love having little things to commemorate that!

Sinful Shine Nail Polish, Nouveau Purple - I tried a blue shade of these polishes, and the shine was incredible! I thought this shade would be a nice fall color to work with.

Sinful Colors Glow in the Dark Nail Polish - Honestly I'm not sure if this will even work, but I think glowing nails are sooo much fun, so I thought I'd give it a go!

wet n wild Coloricon Palette, Daring Downtown - Again, one of the limited edition items, this palette has five dark and shimmery shades, perfect for Halloween or just a fun smokey eye!

And some closer shots....

Can't wait to review and swatch some of these things for you guys!!

XOXO,

Ally

New MUA Makeup Academy Line at CVS

So I got this little pamphlet in the mail today - CVS sure does know how to get a girl's attention!

Makeup Academy is a new line of lip products, brushes, and lashes, coming to CVS. Though this line uses the same logo/name as the British MUA makeup brand, these products are completely new, formulated just for their release at CVS. They are not the same products sold at Superdrug stores in the UK. You can read more about this new line at Happi.com!

I definitely want to test out some of these new lip products for you guys, so hopefully I can put that $2 coupon to good use! Since these products were newly created for CVS it's hard to know what they'll be like, and the prices for the lip products are around $8 - a little pricey compared to the UK brand!

I'm hoping to spot one of these displays at my local CVS soon! (I'll snap some pics if I do!)

9/15 Update: And here's the display!

The lip products look really interesting, not too sure about the brushes - they were a little on the pricey side but they did seem like nice quality!

XOXO,
Ally