Feel It In the Air, Summer's Out of Reach

MelBivDevoe

Image by Roberto Porto via MSNBC

Mid-August already and you can see autumn coming on fast.  One sign that summer is winding down was the annual appearance of the Perseid meteor shower this weekend.  Were you able to catch a glimpse of this celestial wonder?  (MSNBC)

Another sign that signals the approaching end of summer - the Olympics wrapped up yesterday.  Here's the final medal count for the US - it wasn't our best ever, but it was a damn good year, and our athletes should be proud of what they achieved!  (Mercury News)

And this image from the Olympics shows what it's all about.  (Buzzfeed)

Foolproof Eye Color: NYX Cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil

Rusty

Hey there! Do you like the much vaunted smokey eye look? Have you purchased brushes and kits that claim to be designed to achieve it? How long have you stared at pictorials that claim to be fool proof? Have you sat around staring at your bathroom mirror with products spread before you trying to perfect the balance between light and dark that would make you look mysterious and alluring? Well, I have good news! I’ve found a product that eliminates most of those steps and is easily used by anyone who is familiar with crayons.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Vee

The Urban Decay Naked palette is a classic for a reason. There are a great variety of shimmery neutrals and classic colors. If you are just starting your makeup collection or if you are looking for a comprehensive palette, Naked is worth a try.

The set comes with 12 eyeshadows, a mini primer potion and an eyeshadow brush. I'm a longtime fan of UD's eye primer, so I loved the pocket-sized mini. I was shocked at the high quality of the brush, as most kits contain subpar applicators. I wouldn't use it to apply all my eyeshadow, but the flat shape and smooth bristles would be great for applying shadow to your crease when you want a precise shape. The whole shebang costs $50.

All Day, Every Day: Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Eyeliner

Rusty

Pencil eyeliner is inherently scary. You’re holding an object with some sort of point right above your eye and attempting to smear pigment in solid form on the very delicate upper eyelid.

If you’re the sort of person who lines your waterline (the tiny lip of skin along the bottom lid next to your eye and above your bottom lash line) then you’re getting even closer to what seems line inevitable eye irritation disasters. Having an eyeliner with pigment that spreads smoothly while maintaining it’s pencil shaped integrity makes it a lot less scary.

This is why I love Urban Decay’s 24/7 pencil eyeliners.

My Beauty Must Have: Urban Decay Eyeshadow

Rusty

There are few beauty products that I feel absolutely married to. No matter how well something works, I’m almost always willing to give another brand a try, especially if it’s cheaper. It’s not that I don’t have product or brand loyalty, I’m just more curious to see how different products work out for me. The one area of cosmetics where I’m hitting and sticking, though, is Urban Decay eyeshadows.

I’ve mentioned the eyeshadows in a lot of my tutorials because they’re almost the only eyeshadows I own. The other ones were bought for me by someone else. There’s a few reasons for this, and they are:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance: Holy Unmovable Eye Shadow, Batman!

Metric Jenn

You know how you love something so much that you just want to tell EVERYONE about it?! This is totally that product. Too Faced Shadow Insurance is ah-may-zing. How on EARTH did I live this long without this product? Not only that, but why wasn't I told about this product the second someone saw me browsing the eyeshadow section of Sephora?

It was a gross oversight on about 400 sales people's part that I haven't been using/purchasing this product for the past 2 decades. Now don't go skipping this review, just because I'm praising - there's more info for you all after the jump. Information that you must know! *dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn*