There are just some things that I lust for and makeup palettes are one of those things. Palettes are an easy way to care your favorite essentials in a neat (pretty) little case. Shu Uemura has two gorgeous eye and cheek palettes for the Fall, Florescent makeup by Uchiide. The first of these two floral set is the Graceful Bloom Palette which includes four pressed eyeshadows, two cream eyeshadow/eye liners, a cream blush and two applicators. This palette features a beautiful gradation of purple shades and an accent of green and yellow, just like a flower!

Graceful Bloom Palette

The second palette for the Fall is the Dreamy Petal palette which is much warmer with shades of red, pinks and gold. This palette also includes four pressed eyeshadows, two cream eyeshadow/eye liners, a cream blush and two applicators

Dreamy Petal Palette

To top off this fantasy floral inspired look, Shu Uemura brings out Partial Floral Feather eyelashes. These lashes combine purple and red “feathers” to give the illusion of fluttering petals with each blink. These lashes will give you that wow factor when you really want your eyes to “pop”.

With purple being HUGE this Fall, the Graceful Bloom palette should be a big hit. I love how the outside of the palette is beautifully decorated with floral designs bringing the theme of the palette full circle. I am looking forward to Fall especially for the beautiful makeup and fashion that I love so much. Which of these two palettes is your favorite?

Partial Feather Floral Eyelashes

Each limited edition palette retails for $65 and the eyelashes retail for $25. All products are available on the Shu Uemura website.

Just in case you needed designer cotton pads to dab your toner on with you’re in luck because Chanel has got you covered! Add a little bit of luxury to your daily cleansing ritual with Chanel. Developed in Japan and made from the finest hand picked Egyptian cotton these luxurious pads are embossed with the legendary Chanel logo.

I must admit that I am a little more than tempted to buy these pads, I’m pretty sure that they will be super soft on my skin. Each box comes with 100 pads and retails for $20. Would you splurge for these pads over cotton balls?

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about using elf (eyes, lips, face) cosmetics because they are quite ahem…cheap. Each piece costs $1 and their studio line costs about $3 per piece but in general each item is a buck. I’m super picky about what I put on my face because my skin is super sensitive and I’m prone to breakouts. Now I’ve tried elf makeup a few years ago (with no reaction) but I just wasn’t impressed, I didn’t like the colors, textures, pigments etc. However lately I’ve been reading some reviews on elf and they have been quite positive so I decided to give it another try. Here are some of the products that I purchased:

I really liked the eye shadow colors, so I picked up two of the creme shadows: Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

Natural Lash Kit in Black – Who can resist lush lashes that only cost $1?

These Hypershine glosses have a very similar design to Stila glosses…and for the price of $1. The shades are: Flirt (L), Honey (R)

Makeup brushes: Total Face Brush, Bronzing Brush, Eye Shadow Brush, Lip Defining Brush, Eye Liner Brush (L to R)

Complexion Perfection powder (to even skin tone and control shine) from the Studio Collection – this piece was $3

Overall I find the products to be a bit “hit or miss”. I liked the eyeshadows, they were easy to apply and had lots of staying power. The eyelashes were quite good, similar to the ones that you would purchase at the drugstore, more than worth the $1 cost. The glosses were quite sheer – almost too sheer for me to want to buy them again. The glosses just do not give off as much color as I like in my gloss but they do smell and taste great. The complexion perfection powder was too pale for my complexion but I’m not surprised since the main ingredient is Talc. The eyeshadow applicators were just too rough for me to use so I won’t be buying them again. The eyeshadow brushes were quite soft and I will be stocking up on more of these during my next trip to Target.  I would also say the same for the Total Face Brush which was one of my favorite pieces that I purchased so I will also pick up an extra one of these brushes.

What I will say is that for the price of these items you are certainly getting more than your moneys worth, you’ll just need to try out some of the products and see which ones work best for you.

While at my favorite makeup store I saw a kit by bareMinerals and decided to try it out. As I’m sure you’re aware of by now, I’m a little OCD about palettes and kits because their just easy and included everything you need. I snapped up this little gem on my way to the register so I really didn’t even look at it to see what was included in it. But since it was a kit I figured that it would have all that I needed for a new look. On the cover the kit reads: “Learn the lessons they didn’t teach you in school. Tutorials: Foiled Eye”

On the inside flap of the kit is the “tutorial” or  rather instructions on how and where to apply the shadow. I was kind of hoping for something a little more in depth. Take a look:

The kit includes two mineral shadows and a double-ended brush.

The two shades are Night Owl and Disco Glimmer – cute names huh? Night Owl is a translucent steel amethyst shade and Disco Glimmer is a lilac pearl shade. Both shades can be worn wet or dry depending on the effect that you are looking to achieve.

Night Owl

Disco Glimmer

The shadows are pretty pigmented dry on skin, here are the swatches:

Night Owl (l), Disco Glimmer (r)

I love these shades for the evening, I don’t know if I would wear them during the day. I also found the loose shadows a bit messy so it’s going to take me a while to get used to using them.

Overall the kit was worth the price because it includes two shadows and a double sided eye shadow brush.

The foiled eye kit retails at $32 and can be purchased at Sephora.

Welcome to the world of Japanese inspired edgy makeup, welcome to tokidoki. If you are not familiar with tokidoki, it’s a brand that’s been around for about 5 years that makes apparel, footwear and accessories using art and playful characters. tokidoki is a high end brand that has partnered with other brands such as Levi’s, Mikasa, Skull Candy, Lesportsac, Smashbox and Hello Kitty to create everything from sneakers to children’s clothing. When I learned that tokidoki was going to create their own makeup brand I was really curious as to what it would be like. I was anxious to see if they would could quality products, the types of products they would be creating and especially what the packaging would be like.  I read that Sephora was going to be the exclusive carrier of this brand so I decided to go into the store and take a peak. I spoke with one of the sales people and she told me that this was one of her favorite new brands and she gave me some swabs and told me to try everything out and have fun. I had a great time testing everything out so take a look at what I ended up buying:

tokidoki Royal Pride Inferno bronzer

Inside: tokidoki Royal Pride Inferno Bronzer

I do love a good bronzer and I probably have at least 10 at home right now. When I tried tokidoki I just loved it, the color was that I chose was Royal Pride which is a has a slight gold shimmer to it. The color goes on light but you can build it up to your preferred shade of bronze. This compact retails at $22

tokidoki Monkey Pirate (brown) Prisma Gloss

Swatch: tokidoki Monkey Pirate Prisma Gloss

The second item that I loved were the lip glosses – there were so many that I did not know which one to choose. I decided to go safe and get a neutral tone and I went with Monkey Pirate which is brown. This lip gloss is a must have item – for one it smells and tastes like blueberry and has a really good amount of shine to it. The gloss goes on really smoothly and is not sticky! My lips were very moisturized which is a big plus for me because my lips can get pretty dry. The applicator is a clear flat paddle that gives you a smooth application. The packaging is beyond beautiful, the gloss cap has a tiny character inside – it’s like a mini snow globe

There are 16 shades that you can choose from so you’re bound to find a great shade that you will love. The glosses are very reasonably priced at $15. How can you not swoon for glosses with names like Strawberry Latte, Diamante Dark and Adios?

tokidoki Kabuki Brush

The last item that I purchased was actually the first item that caught my eye, a bright purple and white Kabuki brush. This face and body brush has antibacterial bristles and unique square base adorned with tokidoki characters. The brush is soft on my skin and picks up just the right amount of powder. This brush retails for $28.

I must say that tokidoki is one of my new favorite brands, I am very  impressed with the quality of their makeup. My only regret is that I did not pick up more products like the Perfetto quick-drying eyeliner pen and the Cromatico quad eyeshadows. Now that I’ve tried their products and I  know that they can deliver I am heading straight to their section in Sephora. Have you tried out tokidoki? I’d love to hear your feedback.

Tarte was sweet enough to introduce us to their limited edition flower child natural eyeshadow palette. This is one of the prettiest palettes that i have come across in a long time. The shadows are showcased in a shiny purple refillable case with a magnetic closure. The outside of the case is beautifully adorned with purple and gold flowers.

This palette also comes complete with “Lifted” which is a natural eye primer (said to decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by 51% in just 10 minutes), a double sided eye shadow brush and a double sided eyeliner in a Matte Brown on one side and Shimmering Jade on the other. The mirrored palette is filled with 10 shades of saturated pigments and the mirror is signed by the palette designer and celebrity makeup artist Tina Turnbrow. The shades are of course floral inspired: (top row left to right) soft daffodil, ecru hibiscus, pink peony, gray periwinkle, peach tulip, (bottom row left to right) firewheel, buttercup, african violet, delphinium blue and vibrant forest grass.

What makes this palette unique? Well for starters this product is cruelty free so it’s not tested on animals. In addition to that wonderful fact the product consists of many beneficial ingredients such as grape seed extract, Vitamin A and Vitamin E, the shadows are made from mineral pigments and the colors apply very smoothly. I love that an inspiration card is enclosed to give you an idea of how to play up the colors for day or evening. The cost of this eco friendly refillable palette is $44 including the brushes and the shadow primer so it’s really worth the cost.

This palette is one of my favorite Spring purchases because not only is the case gorgeous (and refillable) but the color spectrum gives you a lot of flexibility to create a natural look or a smoky eye.