Marc Jacobs The Night Owl 214 Palette and Swatches

I just have some quick swatches for you today. The Night Owl is a new palette from Marc Jacobs that I haven't seen in my local store yet and that has been out of stock online for ages. It has been on my "loves" list for a long time and it was briefly in stock last week showing "a few in stock" only. So I ordered it using my 20% off code that an employee gave me (their new version of Friends & Family, for employees and their friends/family only)--and found it was out of stock the next morning again. I haven't been able to find any swatches or reviews online yet, so I thought I'd show it to you in case you've been wondering about it and want to grab it if it comes back again soon. Rumor has it that the VIB sale is just around the corner as well.

For those that don't know, these Marc Jacob palettes house seven shades are are super slim, sleek compact little things. They come in a nylon sleeve that snaps close if you want to store it away from dust. They retail for $59 currently.

Just an FYI--it was JUST delivered within the hour, so I haven't used it yet and can't speak to its performance. I plan to use a cream shadow or sticky base because I would guess the microglitter would cause fallout otherwise.

Marc Jacobs The Night Owl

The shades are described as "champagne sheen with silver glitter, intense black matte with iridescent glitter, metallic golden bronze, matte creme, mermaid sheen with subtle iridescent shimmer, cocoa matte with rose gold shimmer, rich matte espresso." I don't know if I quite agree with their description of the colors. For example, I wouldn't call the second shade black, but maybe a black brown. I would say the third shade is a burnished gold.

Marc Jacobs The Night Owl swatches

This picture was taken indoors with natural light from a window. I used my finger for swatches, no primer. I just feel like it's such a pretty, unique grouping of colors. I can't wait to play with it and plan to wear it tomorrow! I hope that helps!

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette

Next in the big holiday palette releases comes the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette. I have owned all of the Vice palettes at one time or another and they have all disappointed me in some way...EXCEPT this one. This one was thought out so well that it's easy to use and enjoyable to even just look at sometimes (at least for this makeup junkie). There are five columns of four shades of eyeshadow and each column is its own quad of colors that could create a look that would be fairly cohesive and pretty. Less guesswork, less randomness than with other palettes. Also, it's got some great mattes that I love for blending out the crease, some gorgeous burgundy and plum and copper for fall, and it's slimmer than previous editions. It also comes with a matching makeup bag that fits the whole palette inside.

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette: Truth, Undone, Downfall, DTF, Dragon, Freeze, Heroine, Brokedown, Vanity, and Lucky

From left to right, these shades are: Truth, Undone, Downfall, DTF, Dragon, Freeze, Heroine, Brokedown, Vanity, and Lucky.

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette: Reign, Bobby Dazzle, Alien, Alchemy, Bondage, Sonic, Last Sin, Angel, Defy, Revolver

From left to right, these shades are: Reign, Bobby Dazzle, Alien, Alchemy, Bondage, Sonic, Last Sin, Angel, Defy, Revolver.

With last year's Vice 2 Palette, I remember thinking I only LOVED one shade and LIKED one other, so was it worth keeping the palette for those? I tried to find dupes and I eventually put it up on a blog sale. With this one, there are many shades about which I could sing praises!

Downfall is a perfect shades for me to use to blend out the crease. Bobby Dazzle is so shimmery that I love it in the inner corner of the eyes. Lucky is my favorite 24/7 liner, perhaps, so I love having it in shadow form. Great for green eyes! Sonic is soooo unique! It's my favorite shade in the whole palette. Reign is such a pretty slightly rosy brown, gorgeous to darken a look and add something special. Alien is that golden pink that many brands do because it's so flattering to keep a pink from making you look ill. I just love the palette!

It's $60, you get 20 shadows, a double-ended synthetic brush, a matching makeup bag, and it's limited edition so grab it while you can!

LORAC Mega Pro Palette Swatches

LORAC came out with a limited edition palette for the holidays that they're calling the Mega Pro Palette. It is exactly the size of two Pro palettes and holds 2x the number of shadows as a Pro palette. I was lucky enough to sneak my order in on October 1st when they had a glitch on their website, but it was officially released on October 7th. It's exclusive to LORAC and Amazon and both sites have already sold out BUT LORAC posted on Facebook today that Amazon is receiving one more shipment. I hope these swatches help you decide if it's for you!

LORAC Mega Pro Palette

It's $59 and comes with 32 shades--16 shimmer and 16 matte shades. These are shown reversed of how they appear in the palette because I started near my wrist. On to the swatches!

The top row is all matte.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Espresso, Mulberry, Orchid, Dusty Plum, Sepia, Camel, Fawn, and Cream

 From left to right, they are: Espresso, Mulberry, Orchid, Dusty Plum, Sepia, Camel, Fawn, and Cream. 

The second row is all matte.

LORAC  Mega Pro Palette: Black, Gray, Wisteria, Lilac, Stone, Brown, Khaki, and White

From left to right, they are: Black, Gray, Wisteria, Lilac, Stone, Brown, Khaki, and White.

The third row is all shimmer save the last shadow which has sparkle.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Indigo, Merlot, Blush, Apricot, Sienna, Copper, Sand, and Opal

From left to right, they are: Indigo, Merlot, Blush, Apricot, Sienna, Copper, Sand, and Opal.

The last row is all shimmer.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Caviar, Deep Teal, Maroon, Granite, Dusty Rose, Smokey Topaz, Cashmere, Vanilla

 From left to right, they are: Caviar, Deep Teal, Maroon, Granite, Dusty Rose, Smokey Topaz, Cashmere, Vanilla.

White, Cream, Espresso, and Black are in the first Pro palette and Black is in the second Pro palette, but I don't mind the repeats because I find those to be staple shades that are useful in many looks.

As far as big palettes go, this one is a good value because you get so many shades for the money. However, it's mostly neutrals and half of it is matte, so it's best for people that like a more conservative look, it would be great for an office, and it would be fairly easy to come up with looks because it blends so nicely together. For those that want bright colors and are more adventurous, maybe take a look at Urban Decay's Vice 3 Palette, or Too Faced's Everything Nice Palette for more variety of colors and finishes.

What I Got For Christmas (Beauty-Related)

Hi, folks! I haven't posted since April because it has been a busy year. My husband and I are trying to adopt, so most of my emotion, time, and energy has been focused on that. But that is off-topic, so I thought I'd show what I got for Christmas that is beauty-related and in the coming year, I will try my best to post reviews and hauls to my blog because I know I rely so heavily on others' to decide on my purchases.

First, in my stocking, my husband gave me three nail polishes. I am a huge fan of the OPI designer series, and I have had my eye on these after seeing some swatches online. I haven't had a chance to wear them yet because my Christmas manicure is lasting so long! I did it on Saturday and have yet to see any tip wear or chipping. For those who are interested, I used Gelous as a base coat, 2 coats of OPI Smitten with Mittens (China Glaze Ruby Pumps is very similar), an accent nail of Sephora's OPI Only Gold for Me topcoat on each hand, another coat of Gelous on all my nails, and finally a coat of Seche Vite. I find that this gives me the strongest manicures yet the Seche Vite helps it to dry fairly quickly.

OPI DS Luxurious, OPI DS Bold, OPI DS Indulgence

From left to right, these are DS Luxurious (orange with gold), DS Bold (pinky red), and DS Indulgence (red with gold). They are really beautiful. The two on the ends are more foil-like and the one in the middle is glittery. I can't wait to play with them.

One of the palettes my husband gave me is Anastasia Want You to Want Me. It comes in a velvety box with a magnetic closure. Inside, there is a mini palette that is removable that houses nine nude and plummy eyeshadows. Also in the outer box are a mini clear brow gel, a liquid eye liner, and a mini eyeshadow brush. I haven't had time to play with this yet because I've been sick the last few days.

Anastasia Want You to Want Me

My husband also got me the Bare Minerals quad in The Happy Place.  The four shades are described as muted apricot, smoky taupe, rose gold, and eggplant. I'm extra excited to see how this plays with my greenish eyes. I have two eight pan BM palettes and the quality is excellent.

Bare Minerals The Happy Place

Finally, although I only have two eyes, my husband knows about my obsession with makeup and got me MORE eyeshadow. Makeup is the only thing that always fits and can change your look the most easily. So he got me...the LORAC pro palette! This little beauty has SIXTEEN eyeshadows in a variety of neutral-ish shades with half of them matte and half shimmer. I think this concept is great because so many other lines only make shimmer palettes, and a nice matte in the crease or on the browbone can really finish off a look. I was able to wear this once on Christmas in the evening, but again, I have been sick so I haven't gotten to experiment much. I did notice that although the shadows are very pigmented, they also tended to be very powdery. Meaning, if you didn't tap your brush off before applying to your lid, you would get fallout on the tops of your cheeks. I did get two compliments on my look, though, and I only saw my immediate family that night (who've all seen me in bajillions of neutrals before). Oh, and did I mention a mini primer is included? I use this stuff daily (it beats Urban Decay, Too Faced, and NARS for me) so I'm happy about that, too!

LORAC Pro Palette

As little extras and stocking stuffers, my uber sweet husband also included this limited edition two-pack of Maybelline Baby Lips in Coral Crush and Twinkle.

Maybelline Baby Lips Coral Crush and Twinkle

He's also Sephora-savvy enough to know to use a good code when ordering online so he gave me a bonus OPI bag filled with samples that he got.

OPI makeup bag with samples

Finally, he got me this perfume rollerball that I'd been wanting to take around with me. I've had bad luck with atomizers leaking so I wanted a rollerball. He got me Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty which I find so fresh and pretty...just like the name, I guess.

Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty perfume rollerball

At my mom's house that evening, I found my stocking there to be filled with all kinds of good (and bad for you!) things to eat. Along with that, she'd (or Santa) gotten this Tarte set for me from Ulta on Black Friday. It contains an Amazonian Clay blush in Flush, a cream shadow in Slate, and a stiff brush that you could use for the shadow or concealer, probably. I LOVE these blushes, so I was pretty excited about that. I wore the cream shadow with liner and mascara when going on a few errands yesterday and there was no creasing on my very oily lids, but this line of shadow DID crease on me during the summer. So we shall see.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush, Slate cream shadow, eyeshadow brush

And that's my crazy big Christmas beauty haul! I also *might* have used some Christmas money to order even more yesterday on boxing day. =X But I'm going on a low or no-buy in 2013 so I had to get all of my lemmings fulfilled now. I will work on posting reviews and looks in the future. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and will talk to you again soon!

Too Faced Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Eye Shadow Collection Palette

With the 15% discount Sephora recently offered, I snagged the brand spanking new Too Faced palette. In a pretty aqua box that looks like water, nine beautiful shadows ranging from matte to glitters come along with a sample of Too Faced Shadow Insurance and three instructional cards to achieve different looks. Unlike the other palettes Too Faced has put out, every single shade in this palette seemed wearable on my complexion, so I had to buy it. The shades are below with Too Faced's descriptions in blue followed by own thoughts in green.

Sugar Sand: Shimmery dusty rose Very frosty, icy pale pink.
Peach Fuzz: Shimmery golden peach Fine golden glitter, super pale peach.
Sunbeam: Pale gold shimmer Fine golden glitter, shadow itself is skin-colored on me.
Plumeria: Vivid pink Shimmery bright pink.
Coral Crush: Coral pink shimmer Fine golden glitter, coral shadow.
Mermaid: Muted teal Shimmery teal.
Cocoa Beach: Plum brown shimmer Fine golden glitter, rosy brown.
Chocolate Sun: Shimmery rich brown Fine golden glitter, dark brown.
Toasted Coconut: Matte caramel Matte tan brown.
Top row of palette, from left to right: Sugar Sand, Plumeria, Cocoa Beach

Middle row of palette, from left to right: Peach Fuzz, Coral Crush, Chocolate Sun

Bottom row of palette, from left to right: Sunbeam (only the glitter shows up on me), Mermaid, Toasted Coconut

I wore two looks so far and have been pleased with both. Here is the look achieved using the top row of the palette.

I wore Sugar Sand on the inner corner of lid and under brow bone. Plumeria is on the rest of the lid. And Cocoa Beach is in the crease.

Here is the look I wore using the bottom row of the palette.

I am wearing Mermaid on the lid and smudged under my eye on top of a liner. I have Toasted Coconut in the crease and blended out. And I used Sunbeam on top of my lid for a little added golden sparkle.

So far, I am really enjoying the palette, but fallout from the glitter is a problem, so I would recommend doing your eye makeup first so that you can clean your face off and apply foundation afterward. The palette is now available at Too Faced, Ulta, and Sephora.

FOTD LORAC Unzipped Palette

With Sephora's recent discount, one of the items that I hauled is the LORAC Unzipped palette. It features 10 warm shades of gold-toned to rosy-hued neutrals in a variety of finishes. I wore it yesterday for the first time and thought I'd show my look. The lighting wasn't great by the time I took a picture, so I'll try to post another look soon.

Face:
Too Faced BB cream in Vanilla Glow
Benefit Erase Paste in Fair under eyes
MAC Studio Finish in NC20 under eyes and on blemishes
Bare Minerals Summer Bisque to set under eye concealer
MAC MSFN in Light Medium on face
Benefit Hoola to contour
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Tipsy

Eyes:
Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
Unreal on inner 1/3 of eye and on browbone to highlight
Unbelievable on outer 2/3 of eye
Unbridled in crease and blended out
Undiscovered lightly on center of lid to blend
Bobbi Brown Black Ink gel liner on top lashline and waterline
Urban Decay Lucky 24/7 liner on bottom lashline
Revlon Grow Luscious black mascara
Anastasia brow wiz in medium ash on brows

Lips:
Make Up Forever La Boheme collection lipstick in Folk

Sephora VIB and BI sale

I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know about an upcoming sale. Starting on March 29th, all Sephora VIBs (those who've spent $350 in a calendar year) will be able to get 15% off purchases in store and online. On March 30th, the sale will open to BIs as well. You can become a BI (beauty insider) by signing up on Sephora.com at any time. The code for VIBs is CHICVIB and CHICBI for BIs online. In-store, you must present a card received in the mail so that the sales associates can scan a barcode. Additionally, VIBs can get a free umbrella on the 29th with purchase while supplies last. The sale ends on April 5th for BIs and April 6th for VIBs. So the only perks for being a VIB are the umbrella and having two extra days of sale. The 15% off remains the same for everyone.