October 2014 BoxyCharm Unboxing

Hi everyone!

I loved my BoxyCharm box so much last month that I decided to keep my subscription going and today I have a review for you of my October box. (You can see a review of my September box HERE).

For those of you who are new to BoxyCharm, it is a monthly makeup subscription service that costs $21 and they send you 4-5 full-size products, which is a great value when you consider that Ipsy and Birchbox are half that price and you only get small samples. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that BoxyCharm now has a waitlist, but I think it's shorter than Ipsy's.

This month, the 5 full-size products I was sent were:
     - Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum --> retails for $48
     - Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette --> retails for $19.95
     - Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes --> retails for $21
     - Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow --> retails for $14
     - StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils --> retails for $14

This month's box also came with a special 20% off coupon for Palmetto Derma's website, just use the promo code BCPD2 at checkout. The coupon code is valid thru 12/31/14.

Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum
This is a serum that is intended to "protect from premature aging and creates youthful, glowing and beautiful skin, all day and night!" BoxyCharm recommends applying a small amount of the product in the morning and evening after cleansing and toning your face. Allow the product time to absorb before applying moisturizer and they do warn to keep it away from your eyes. A full-size, 1 ounce, bottle of this serum retails for $48, so this is a terrific product to receive in a subscription box as I would probably not buy this product on my own. If you're interested in buying this product, you can purchase it from Palmetto Derma's website and Amazon. I have not tried this product yet, but once I do, I will probably do a Skincare Saturday/Sunday post on it if you guys are interested.

Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette
This is the Eclipse Concealer Palette by the brand Coastal Scents that retails for $19.95 but is currently on sale for $14.95 on their website.

The palette contains 15 different shades, 11 of which are shades for you to match to your skin (some have warm tones and some have cool tones), then there are 4 other shades, a mint green shade which counteracts redness or pinkness caused from rosacea, blemishes, or capillaries around the nose and cheek areas, a pale yellow shade which conceals black, blue, or purple imperfections such as bruises or unsightly under eye halos, a lavender shade which neutralizes areas with excessive yellow pigmentation and corrects olive skin tones, and a white/silver shade can be used as a highlighter to add sheen to cheekbones, nose, eyes, etc.

This is the second Coastal Scents product I've tried and I'm honestly very impressed! The concealers are very creamy and highly pigmented. They are probably some of the best drug store concealers that I've used, they even beat many high end concealers! It may seem unnecessary to buy a palette like this since you might think that you won't use all the colors, but I find that you can use some of the shades that don't exactly match your skin tone to contour and highlight/brighten your face. I honestly love this palette and highly recommend it to anyone looking to try out some new concealers! The packaging is a heavy duty plastic so it is also a very good item to travel with as it won't get smashed in your bag. I'm really happy with how well this concealer covered my under-eye circles and brightened the area up!

Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes
I have neve heard of this nail polish before, but I like that they gave us two different colors, one a dark gray and one a deep purple. I actually really like the purple color and think I will get a lot of wear out of it this fall. I will try them out and report back on how well they wear.

Be A Bombshell Eyeshadow
Prior to receiving this product, I have previously tried a mascara and eyeshadow quad from the brand Be a Bombshell. I wasn't impressed with the mascara since it had a truly horrible smell to it, I couldn't even bear to put it on my eyelashes. On the other hand, I was very impressed with the eyeshadow quad I received.

Because I really liked the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow quad I previously received from an Ipsy/Birchbox, I was excited to receive one in this BoxyCharm. However, I was disappointed to receive this color. I don't tend to wear green eyeshadows, and since this is a dark green shimmer eyeshadow intended for a smokey eye, I don't think I will actually wear it.

However, I do like the texture of this eyeshadow, it's very smooth and finely milled. It just glides right on. I am really curious to try these solo eyeshadows in a color that I might actually wear because the quality seems really great.

Here are some hand swatches of this eyeshadow. On the left side in each photo is a heavy swatch and on the right is a light swatch (only one swipe).

StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils
The last product in this BoxyCharm was a StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencil in the color ultra violet. I was excited to try a StarLooks pencil since I've heard really good things about them, but unfortunately this is not a color that I wear. I barely wear eyeliner since my eyes water a lot and it usually gets messy and wipes away.

The quality of this eyeshadow pencil is pretty amazing! It's a little smudgy, so if you like to smudge out your eyeliner this is a pretty good one. All in all, I'm really impressed and will definitely check out getting a more normal color one that I would actually wear.

If you do like colored eyeliner, this is a very beautiful color. It's a rich, deep blue-purple that I think would be very beautiful on people with all different eye colors. I might keep this eyeliner for New Year's Eve or some other special event just because I think it looks very beautiful on the eyes.

Final Verdict:
All in all, I think this was a great box this month! I wish that my eyeliner and eyeshadow would have been more neutral colors, but getting brighter and more different colors really pushes me to expand how I wear my makeup so I guess it's not the end of the world. I love that for about $20 a month you get to try out 5 full size products and they always retail for MUCH more than the cost of the box, so it's a great deal! For those of you who are getting tired of your Ipsy/Birchbox subscriptions, I highly recommend checking out BoxyCharm!

Are you interested in trying BoxyCharm? Are you loving any other subscription box services at the moment that you'd recommend I try? Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

Lorac: Mega PRO Palette!!

Hi everyone,

I'm so excited to share this post with you! I just received my Lorac Mega PRO Palette and had to do a blog post on it! This is a special eye shadow palette for the holiday season 2014 as part of the Lorac Royal Collection.

This palette retails for $59 from Lorac's website, but is now sold out unfortunately. It is part of the holiday collection so they may restock since it was so popular and it's not even November yet, but I don't really know. Lorac says that this is a $204 value and the total makeup in the palette is 0.62 oz. You can still purchase other items from the Lorac Holiday collection here as well as at Kohl's, Amazon, and Ulta. Each site has slightly different products so do take a look at all of them.

The packaging of the Lorac Mega PRO Palette is the same as the Lorac PRO Palettes except twice the size. It is a heavy cardboard material with that sort of NARS covering that shows fingerprints.

This palette contains 16 matte and 16 shimmer shades similar to the first and second Lorac Pro Palettes but twice the size. This palette contains 28 new shades and 4 repeat matte shades but they're essential colors - white, cream, espresso, black.

The 16 Matte Shades are: Cream, Fawn, Camel, Sepia, Dusty Plum, Orchid, Mulberry, Espresso, White, Khaki, Brown, Stone, Lilac, Wisteria, Gray, Black

The 16 Shimmer Shades are: Opal, Sand, Copper, Sienna, Apricot, Blush, Merlot, Indigo, Vanilla, Cashmere, Smokey Topaz, Dusty Rose, Granite, Maroon, Deep Teal, Caviar

Photo on the left is with a flash and the photo on the right is without a flash in natural light

The formula of these eye shadows can't be beat! They are truly the best eye shadows I have ever tried and that's not an exaggeration, they're just that good! They are so velvety smooth and the color pigmentation is incredible. I have heard some complaints that these shadows do have some fallout, but honestly that doesn't really bother me because they are so creamy and pigmented. Oftentimes, the softer and smoother the eye shadow, the more fallout that will occur just be the nature of the formula.

And now without further ado, here are some close up photos of this glorious palette and a comparison of it with the original Lorac PRO Palette that I own! All swatch photos are courtesy of Lorac since mine is so beautiful and I didn't want to start using it yet.

Matte Shades: First Two Rows

The shades on the left are taken with a flash and the shades on the right are taken without a flash in natural light

The top row of swatched shades is on darker skin and the bottom row is on lighter skin

Shimmer Shades: Second Two Rows

The shades on the left are taken with a flash and the shades on the right are taken without a flash in natural light

The top row of swatched shades is on darker skin and the bottom row is on lighter skin

Comparison with the Lorac PRO Palette

In terms of size, the Mega PRO Palette is pretty much double the size of the original PRO Palette. They are both made from heavy cardboard and are the same material on the exterior. On the inside, the Mega PRO is pretty much identical to the original PRO Palette except with four rows of eight shades instead of two.

Can you tell that I LOVE my original Lorac PRO Palette?!? I've used it a ton!

Bonus items included with the Mega PRO Palette

The only real bonus item included with the purchase of this palette was a sample of the POREfection Mattifying Face Primer. I would have loved for them to have included a small eye shadow primer like they do with the original Lorac PRO palette.

Final Verdict:

I think this is a phenomenal eye shadow palette! Although I can't give a full review of it yet since I have not swatched it myself, I think the color range of shades and offering of both matte and shimmer eye shadows makes this an amazing palette. I absolutely adore my original Lorac PRO Palette so I'm sure this will be similar and I will love it too!

Were you able to purchase the Mega PRO Palette before they sold out? What are your thoughts on it? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

Urban Decay: Naked2 Basics Eye Shadow Palette

Hi everyone,

Today's review is of the Urban Decay Naked2 Basics eye shadow palette. I had been debating for a long time whether not to get the first Naked Basics but I wasn't sold on it since I have the Naked2 palette and I wanted more matte shadows that I could use with that. Well, once the Naked2 Basics came out, I knew I had to have it! This is a palette of 6 neutral eye shadow colors that can be worn alone or paired with the Naked2 palette. I'm in love! This palette costs $29 and you can find it at tons of stores, including Ulta, Sephora, Macy's, & the Urban Decay website.

The biggest difference between this palette and the original Naked Basics palette is that this palette features shades that are cooler in tone and more suited to match the Naked2 palette. The eye shadows in this palette are taupe-hued matte neutrals. Five of the six shades in this palette are brand new, never-before-seen colors. The actual packaging of both Naked Basics are the same in terms of size and materials.

Five of the six shades are completely matte, but the lightest shade is a satin, which I actually find is very nice for highlighting the brow bone and inner corner of the eyes. I love that no two colors in this palette are identical or are too similar so you can really get lots of great different looks from it.

The six shades included in this palette are:
          - Skimp: pale nude satin
          - Stark: nude-pink matte
          - Frisk: warm gray matte
          - Cover: muted red-brown matte
          - Primal: muted brown matte
          - Undone: deep, smoky brown matte

In terms of the formula of these shadows, they're just amazing, like all urban decay eye shadows! The texture is velvety smooth but I do find that it can be a little powdery, so I think it works best if you tap the excess off your brush before applying it to your eyelids so that you don't have any fallout on your face.

I love the packaging of this palette. It's so compact and sleek that it's perfect to travel with and take with you in your purse for touch ups. It's durable yet practical and cute all at the same time. For such a small compact, I'm very impressed they were able to get such a large mirror inside. Honestly, when I travel this is all I take with me because I can get so many great looks with it, from a neutral day look to an intense smokey eye. If I know I will want more nighttime looks while I travel, I'll just bring a small eyeshadow quad with shimmer shades with me and voila so many looks without bulky makeup taking up all your suitcase space! I haven't tried this yet, but some people also say that they use this product all over their face, like for filling in your brows, which once again makes this a great product to travel with since it's so versatile.

In terms of longevity, I find that this palette does provide long lasting coverage, especially when used with an eye shadow primer. Every time I've worn eyeshadows from this palette they lasted all day long and they didn't crease throughout the day. Also, I do have sensitive skin and eyes and I found that the eyeshadows in this palette doesn't irritate them so it'll be great for those of you who also have sensitive eyes or skin.

Final verdict:
All in all, this is a phenomenal eye shadow palette! I think if you prefer cool-toned neutrals rather than warm-toned neutrals this is the palette for you. By being all matte shadows (and one satin) these eye shadows can really be used by all ages and I think they would flatter all skin tones. I also find that I'm liking and using my Naked2 palette a lot more now that I can pair it with this palette. I highly recommend the Naked2 Basics palette, I really love using it and for only $29 it's actually a pretty affordable higher-end eyeshadow palette.

Are you a fan of the new Naked2 Basics palette or do you prefer the original Naked Basics? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!