Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Palette Review

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If you haven't already met the latest addition to the Anastasia Beverly Hills family of eyeshadow palettes, let me take a moment to properly introduce you. The Soft Glam Palette is Anastasia's homage to the season of special occasions - from proms, to cocktail parties, to showers and weddings, this collection of essential neutral shades has everything you need for a classic, elegant look. The overall response to this palette launch has been pretty polarized by the beauty community. Some people are head-over-heels in love with the shade selection, while others find it to be one of the most boring debuts of 2018. Considering the fact that I made the decision to add this palette to my collection you can probably guess which side of the fence I'm on.

To me, Soft Glam is a timeless palette that can just as easily create an everyday, work appropriate look as a sultry, smokey eye. It doesn't have the most earth shattering or unique combination of colors, however that's exactly why I think I was drawn towards it. While there are seemingly countless options of neutral palettes on the market, not all of them deliver on quality the way that ABH does. This particular shade selection, paired with Anastasia's fantastic eyeshadow formula, was all the convincing I needed.

Fresh for Spring: The New Pixi Pretties Collection

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If you were to ask me what beauty brand exudes springtime, I don't think anyone could top Pixi. From their pastel green packaging, to their glow inducing, rose-infused skincare, to their soft, ethereal makeup, Pixi's products are basically the cosmetic equivalent of frolicking in a field of flowers. Sweet, feminine, and effortless, Pixi Beauty is the perfect brand for more minimal makeup lovers, and is one of my go-tos whenever I'm craving a lighter look.

As we're FINALLY starting to see the signs of Spring here in New England, the timing is perfect to start playing with some fresh, new makeup. Earlier this year, Pixi released a new range of products to their Influencer-created Pixi Pretties collection. Last year's offerings, such as the It'sEyeTime Palette and Double Cleanse, were some of my most treasured products of 2017, so I was incredibly excited to see what new collaborations Pixi had in store for us.

New at the Drugstore for Spring 2018: Milani Eyeshadow Palettes

Friends, I've got another ridiculously exciting spring makeup launch to share with you! Milani is releasing not one, but two eyeshadow palettes that may just rival what you're used to seeing from high end brands. Most Loved Mattes is a collection of 12 matte shadows in everyday essential neutral tones, while Bold Obsessions has a mixture of mattes and metallics perfect for creating your next glam look. As soon as they appeared in the displays at my local Walmart I knew I needed to pick them up to review for you. So let's take a closer look!

Major Deal Alert! Sephora Favorites Selfie Kit

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Friends, I've got a nostalgic place in my heart for these Sephora Favorites kits. When I first started out blogging and couldn't afford to drop hundreds of dollars on new makeup to review, they were one of my favorite ways to explore the beauty scene on a budget. From glowy essentials, to the latest in nude lips, Sephora does a great job of curating fun and trendy collections of products to sample.

Admittedly, since those early days my beauty collection has grown to a healthy size, and I find myself being a lot more discerning about whether or not I really need another sampler set. This Selfie Kit, though. This was a deal too good for me to pass up.

Winky Lux Kitten Palette Review

Happy New Year, beauties! I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things for 2018. For those of you who aren't already aware, I've been spending a lot of my time as-per-late creating videos for my YouTube Channel. It's been a really fun and refreshing change of pace to sit and chat to the camera, but I don't ever want to completely abandon my blogging roots.

And what better way to get back to blogging than by sharing a good ol' review of one of my favorite things on the planet? I've never been shy about my love for eyeshadow palettes, and this one, friends, is really a gem. The Winky Lux Kitten Palette is something I received a few months back in a Boxycharm (which, on a sidenote, has quickly become my favorite beauty subscription service), and totally blew me away with its quality. Winky Lux is an up-and-coming, Cruelty-Free makeup brand with a super fun, feminine aesthetic, and a very reasonable price point. This palette, for example, is only $25 and contains 9 beautiful, buttery matte and metallic shades that strike a perfect balance between being colorful and neutral.

Jouer Skinny Dip Ultra Foil Shimmer Shadow Palette Review

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If there is one makeup trend that I can't seem to get enough of lately, it's an intense, shimmery eye. Yes, I've always been one of those girls that oohs and ahhs over anything shiny, so it's entirely unsurprising that I'd fall in love with putting sparkles all over my eyelids. But for a while there I had avoided the trend all together. Having grown up in the 90s, I made some pretty strong associations between glitter and looking cheap or tacky (if you ever purchased Claire's makeup as a tween, you might understand what I'm talking about). For years that meant avoiding makeup with anything other than a slight shimmer or sheen.

But then cosmetics companies started doing something wonderful. They began to create stunning, glittery makeup that still managed to look sophisticated. Where glitter was once chunky and unappealing, it has now become micro-fine, brilliant, and elegant. And one absolutely perfect example of this transformation is the Jouer Skinny Dip Ultra Foil Shimmer Shadow Palette. These eyeshadows are an absolute dream to work with, and leave your lids with the most gorgeous, glittery, foiled effect. So if you too are a glitter lover at heart, but have been unsure of whether or not you've outgrown the days of wearing it, perhaps this palette will be a game changer for you as well.

Overcoming the Fear of Falsies: A Battington Lash Starter Kit Review

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Fun little fact about me: back in my college days I used to be a competitive ballroom dancer. No, I don't watch Dancing With the Stars (don't even get me started), but yes, the sport will always have a special place in my heart. While of course improving your dance technique and learning routines is a large part of what it means to be a ballroom dancer, there is also needing to wear elaborate costumes, donning your face in 10 pounds of makeup, and slathering yourself from head to toe in self tanner. Cultivating that perfect appearance of a professional dancer takes a whole lot of trial and error, and unfortunately for my much younger self, there was a lot of error.

If there was one thing I could go back in time and teach a college aged Lauren, having now had years of blogging and developing my beauty expertise, it would be how the heck to properly pick out and apply false eyelashes. Lord knows I had no idea what I was doing, and as a result I was completely turned off to the entire concept up until this last year. Honestly, I think falsies get that bad rep of being uncomfortable, difficult to use, or unnatural looking because a lot of other people are in the same boat as I was ten years ago.

But the truth is, false lashes don't really have to be any of those things. Take, for example, these Battington 3D Silk Lashes. Not only are they super lightweight and comfortable on the eyes, but I also know when I wear them it doesn't look like I'm wearing falsies. Yes my lashes look more full and beautiful, but they aren't obviously fake to the person I might be sitting across the table from. And, if the lashes themselves weren't awesome enough, this Birchbox exclusive starter kit that has everything you need to adventure into the world of falsies in one convenient package. Curious to know more? I thought you might be.

Juvia's Place The Saharan Eyeshadow Palette Review

Friends, if you haven't yet heard about Juvia's Place, and you consider yourself to be a lover of eyeshadow, I am about to blow your mind.

There have been few makeup brands that have impressed me as much as Juvia's Place has. If you want unique, high quality, cruelty-free eye shadows for an insanely reasonable price tag, and to support a female-owned brand designed with Women of Color in mind, you need, yes NEED to check out their products.

While they have certainly garnered popularity after NikkieTutorials started singing their praises last year, Juvia's Place is still relatively unknown by the average person. As a smaller indie brand you won't find their products on the shelves of Ulta, Sephora, or your local drugstore. Instead you'll have to head on over to their website, or get lucky like I did and manage to snag their products from Hautelook when a sale comes around. Yes, there is something to be said for putting your faith in an online purchase without having the opportunity to swatch and play with it in person. But I promise, this eyeshadow palette does not disappoint.

Motives Mavens Element Color Box Review

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As someone that's tried hundreds upon hundreds of beauty products and that spends an embarrassing amount of time reading reviews and keeping up on the latest launches, it's a bit of a shock to come across a well-established brand that I've never heard of. While my immediate response is to feel like I've been living under a rock, I think it also goes to show that the world of beauty influencers is pretty heavily biased. Everyone always seems to be raving about the same big name brands carried at Sephora and Ulta, to the point that you can forget there's a lot of fantastic stuff going on outside of their doors.

By a matter of happy coincidence I was introduced a few months ago to Motives Cosmetics, which with over 2 million Instagram followers, is certainly not your small indie startup. In fact, they've been around for almost a decade under the umbrella of internet marketing and product brokerage giant Market America. They've got a pretty extensive range of products, have been featured by tons of magazines and websites, and have still managed to totally fly under my radar.

Of course, as is the case with any die-hard beauty fan, my curiosity was immediately piqued. What are their products like? Is there a reason no one is talking about them? Or was I about to stumble upon a beauty gold mine of underrated goodies? The only way to find the answer was to get my hands on some Motives products and find out for myself!

Morphe 35B Color Glam Eyeshadow Palette Review

If there is such a thing as a color bug, I've been bitten by it. Either that or it's just all of the amazing colorful looks that I've seen while scrolling through my Instagram feed. Either way, I've had a hankering for putting bold bright shades on my eyes as per late, and had been looking to add something to my collection to give me a little more variety than what exists in all of my neutral palettes. At first I spent a fair amount of time hemming and hawing over the new Sephora Pro Editorial Palette, but spending $68 on something that I would only use for creating looks to film or photograph seemed like a bit of an unwise investment.

But then, I made a discovery. While prepping my shopping cart to purchase the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill collaboration, I noticed a palette that was EXACTLY what my heart desired. The Morphe 35B Palette had 35 stunning ridiculously colorful shades and retailed for only $19.99. Paying $68 for an artistic palette when you aren't a makeup artist is iffy, but $20? $20 I can justify. Surprisingly, I had never tried anything from Morphe before (the Jaclyn Hill palette was to be my first purchase) and I decided that this was a wonderful opportunity to explore the brand. So I snatched that baby up along with a few eye brushes that I thought would be helpful for getting my inner MUA on, and am here to report back on my thoughts!

How to Curate Your Dream Eyeshadow Palette

If you're an average, non makeup-obsessed person, there are probably a lot of makeup junkie habits you could give the serious one-eyebrow-raise to. Are those ten nude lipsticks really all that different? Is it actually necessary to set your face with a different powder from your under eyes? And what the heck is with this contouring business? Trust, as much as I love the stuff, I will never tell you you need to own more than a single cosmetic bag's worth of makeup (or any makeup for that matter, you do you boo). But if there is one thing us makeup junkies have unlocked the secret to that I think the average person should totally get on the bandwagon with, it's building your own custom eyeshadow palette.

Am I getting the eyebrow now? Just hear me out. I know it may seem intimidating and potentially expensive, but I promise the investment is so totally worth it.

Save or Splurge? A Comparison of the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette & Makeup Revolution New-Trals vs. Neutrals Palette

Friends, I'm not even going to try to contain my excitement. I am SO jazzed for you to read this post! Not only is Save or Splurge one of my favorite series to write, but the palettes we're going to chat about today are SO amazing and SO hyped that I've basically been bursting at the seams wanting to talk about them since the moment they both ended up in my possession.

If you're new to these parts and wondering what the heck I'm talking about, here's the general scoop. With all of the beauty products I've tried over the years, I've found that time and time again a price tag is not always an indicator of how great something will perform. Yes, some luxury products are totally worth the investment, but there are plenty of budget-friendly drugstore alternatives out there that work equally well and can save you a ton of cash.

As you're already well aware, today's post is a throwdown between the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette and the Makeup Revolution New-Trals vs. Neutral Palette. Now, I will say this right of the bat - these two palettes are in no way exact dupes of one another. The shade ranges each have their own unique offerings, and if you're a die hard makeup junkie like myself, that may be the justification you need to purchase them both. But with all the drama around the Sweet Peach relaunch and its almost $50 price point, having a super affordable alternative to get your warm-toned neutrals on might just be exactly what you're looking for.

Maybelline 24K Nudes Palette Review

This post is sponsored by Maybelline. All opinions expressed are my own. For more information regarding my affiliations and disclosures click here.

Happy New Year, loves! Is your mind also blown that January is already here? I know this can be a rough month, what with all of the fun and excitement of the holidays behind us, but I do have one piece of good news to lift your spirits. A new year means that a TON of beauty launches are on their way, so you can at least look forward to having plenty of pretty new makeup to play with if you're cooped up indoors.

One of the things helping me get through the post-holiday slump is this Maybelline 24K Nudes Palette ($11.99). Maybelline was kind enough to send it to me to review along with some other fun eye makeup goodies to complete my look. It's got some really beautiful on-trend colors that I'm super excited to show you!

Makeup Revolution New-Trals vs Neutrals Palette Review

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Friends, this review has been a long time coming. This palette has been sitting on my Ulta wishlist for months, and by an act of sheer willpower I've held out on buying it until now. Yes my makeup collection is totally OTT, but I do honestly try to exercise some restraint when it comes to shopping for new beauty products. And while I've got an especially weak spot for eyeshadow palettes, I'm actually pretty good about not going out and splurging on every single one that catches my eye.

So for the better part of 2016 I've hemmed and hawed about buying this bad boy. Did I really need it? Probably not. But the colors were SO gorgeous and the price was SO great that eventually I gave in to my undying curiosity. So what is this magical little beauty? The Makeup Revolution New-Trals vs. Neutrals Eyeshadow Palette, of course!

Too Faced White Chocolate Chip Palette Review

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If you're a die hard beauty lover, you probably have an understanding of the insanity that revolves around super limited edition releases. Some collections sell out within a matter of minutes, which means that if you want in, you've got to commit to hitting that checkout button the second it goes live. Depending on where you live, that might require staying up until 3 am (or some other ridiculous time) because waiting until the morning will likely mean missing out on whatever product you've got your eye on.

Now, I personally am way too lazy and laid back to find myself being one of these people. Don't get me wrong, my love for beauty is strong, but I think there are SO many great products out there that I just don't get that emotionally attached to any one particular release. If I miss out on this one, there will always be something else to get excited about.

So where am I going with all of this? Somehow, with very little stress or effort, I managed to snag a super hot ticket item over Thanksgiving weekend. I honestly almost feel guilty about how nonchalant the whole process was when I know how much drama this little palette stirred up. If you're confused, here's the quick recap.

Kat Von D Beauty MetalMatte Eyeshadow Palette Review

With the holidays fast approaching, the beauty world has completely exploded with exciting new releases. Gift sets, limited edition palettes, and blinged-out packaging can be found just about everywhere you turn. And while its tempting to want to run out and review everything for you guys, I'm a firm believer in being selective about my purchases. Even though my passion for product is pretty intense, I'm also not one to buy into hype. I always consider my current stash, my style, and the feedback of my fellow beauty addicts before I invest in something. Sure, once in a while I'll take a gamble and try something out on a whim. But for the most part, I like to do my homework.

Sometimes when I'm researching what's new and interesting and I'll come across a product that totally blows me away and realize no one is talking about it. Maybe it's a personal preference thing, or maybe its just that certain brands are more likely to get attention, but either way, it never fails to surprise me.

This palette is one of those products.

Guys, when I say this palette is unbelievably good. I mean, this is like a "if I could only use one palette for the rest of my life I would probably pick this one" good. I want to profess my love for its buttery, beautiful, shimmering goodness from the rooftops. Just...just wait until you see the pictures. And then you will understand.

Revlon PhotoReady Eye Art Review

As a beauty blogger there's seriously nothing more exciting than stumbling upon a product you've literally heard nothing about, taking it home, and discovering its a total gem. It's like getting to play beauty archeologist. You know, instead of uncovering the bones of what could be a new species of dinosaur you're scouting out products that might be the next big craze.

A few weeks ago I was perusing the makeup aisles at CVS, struggling to decide what I wanted to spend my Extrabucks on. It's funny because earlier this year I had the opposite problem. There were so many new launches hitting the shelves, and I had to seriously restrain myself from buying everything. But by now I'm sort of over the hype, and most trips to the drugstore have me feeling uninspired. I was on the verge of giving up and buying some toothpaste or whatever else I might need around the house when something glittery caught my eye. At first glance I assumed these duos were nail polish, which I wasn't all that interested in, but then I noticed that the picture next to them was of an eye.

An eye? I did a double take and walked over to further investigate. No, these weren't nail polishes at all. Before me was a rainbow of cream eyeshadow duos called the Revlon PhotoReady Eye Art. I was in serious disbelief that I had no idea these things existed. With glitter and metallic shadows being so in right now, how was it possible that people weren't talking about them? Was I just late to the party? Or had I stumbled upon one of those amazing underground bars only the locals know about? Either way, I was intrigued and after a long debate about which shades to buy, I picked two to take home.

Trending Now: Glittering, Metallic Eyes

Trying to mentally prepare myself for fall is never an easy task. Don't get me wrong. I'm all about everything pumpkin spice, plaid shirts, and being able to dig my beloved boots out of hiding. But the change of seasons is always bittersweet. Winters here in New England are brutal, and fall sometimes feels like a pretty little distraction from the impending dark and cold. But, before I get myself too depressed thinking about Connecticut mid-February, let's put the focus back on what we've got to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Fall makeup might just be my all-time favorite of the entire year. Vampy reds, lush berries, rich chocolate tones...it's basically the season for extra sultry glam. While blindingly bright highlighters were all the rage this summer, the sparkle factor appears to have transferred to the eyes for fall. Whether you're just adding a bit of shimmer to the lid, or incorporating serious metallic shine into a full-on smokey eye, there are tons of options popping up at every price point to unleash your inner MUA.

As someone who's always had a soft spot for glitter, I'm welcoming this trend with open arms. The combination of a warm, inviting fall color palette with intense sparkling shine is especially gorgeous, and has me totally inspired to create some killer eye looks. If you're as into this trend as I am, here are some product recommendations to get you started!

NYX Avant Pop Eyeshadow Palette | Surreal My Heart

Confession. I'm a total eyeshadow palette junkie. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you're probably already well aware of my obsession with sparkly metallics, matte neutrals, and everything in between. Even if most days I keep things fairly simple, I love having the option to go colorful or full-on glam at a moments notice. And like any true beauty enthusiast, even though I've already got a pretty bangin' collection of palettes at home, that doesn't stop me from wanting to try and discover new ones to recommend to you guys.

Enter, my latest find: the NYX Cosmetics Avant Pop Shadow Palette in Surreal My Heart. Inspired by the bold, colorful feel of Pop Art paintings, the Avant Pop Palettes are designed to help you unleash that inner Makeup Artist! Each palette contains a selection of vibrant, unique shades while also providing you a few softer, more subtle options if you'd prefer to tone things down. Ever since these palettes launched last summer I've heard nothing but good things, and I've been dying to give one of them a try. My general pragmatism has held me back so far ("Lauren...do you REALLY need more eyeshadow?") but a 5X points offer for NYX from Ulta gave me that final push to say "No...BUT I'M GONNA DO IT ANYWAY!"

Shop the Stash | Eye Primers

Hey guys! It's time for another round of Shop the Stash. If you're new to this series here on my blog, it's all about taking stock of my current makeup collection and rediscovering old flames as an alternative to going out and hauling new products. I'm going to pull out everything I own of a particular category, show you guys a side-by-side comparison, and see if I've been neglecting any hidden gems. So far we've already sorted through my bronzer collection and my concealers, both of which ended up being incredibly helpful for me. I've been loving my Cargo Water Resistant Bronzer this summer, which had previously been buried in the back of a drawer somewhere, and I was able to say goodbye to a few tubes of concealer that were either old or mostly used up.

This time around I've gathered together all of my eye primers to see how they stack up against one another. Primer is a must-have for me if I'm going to create any kind of intensive eyeshadow look. However, I've definitely realized that not all formulas are created equal. Let's see how these ones compare!