June One Month, One Palette: Too Faced Natural at Night & Natural Matte

June's One Month, One Palette ~ The Wonky Brow

Okayyyyy, Okayyyyy... I cheated again. I used two palettes this month. But it was soooooo worth it. I planned on using only the Too Faced Natural at Night palette for the month of June. But when the first of the month rolled around and I opened it up, I was like "Uhhhhhh... I need more." And so then what had happened wasssss... It was my birthday and the boyfriend got me a gift card to Ulta. So I purchased the Too Faced Natural Matte palette to use as a companion. #sorrynotsorry.
The Deets: Both of these palettes retail for $36, however, the Natural at Night (NaN) palette is not available at the moment. I am unsure as to whether they are simply repackaging this into the newer tin case they use (like they have done for some of the other palettes in this range) or if it is simply discontinued. I sincerely hope it isn't the latter. Each palette contains nine shadows. Of those nine, the NaN palette only contains two matte shades. Hence, my "Uhhhhhh... I need more" statement. I like shimmer, but I like balance also. As for the Natural Matte (NM) palette, all I can say is... LOVE.  The Palette(s):

Too Faced Natural Matte and Natural at Night Palettes

The Shadows: I used all of these shadows in a combination of looks this month. The formula is great. Soft, blendable, easy to work with. My only complaint formula-wise is shade-specific, the Night Light shade from the NaN palette. It is a beautiful shimmery pink, but it has large chunks of glitter that make this shadow excessively powdery and can create some fall out on the lid. Another great thing about the NaN palette is the colors of the shadows. The only one I didn't care for is the shade Nightcap. Something about that brown just makes me think of poop. I don't know why. But it is a "blah" shade for me. My favorites from this palette were After-hours, Moonstone, and Eclipse. I found all three extremely hard to find dupes for also. In fact the only dupe I found in my collection was for After-hours, which is the shade Taupe Platinum (D-562) from the Makeup Forever Artist Shadow range. My favorites from the NM palette are ALLLLL OF THEM. But if I absolutely have to choose... It's Strapless, Honey Butter, and Chocolate Cookie. Again it was hard for me to find exact dupes of these in my collection. The only one I got close on was Honey Butter which is similar to M.A.C.'s Bamboo. 

Night Light from Too Faced's Natural at Night Palette

Left: Top- Too Faced After Hours
Bottom- Makeup Forever Taupe Platinum
Right: Top- Too Faced Honey Butter
Bottom- M.A.C. Bamboo

The Conclusion: I am a fan. I am a fan of Too Faced. And I am a fan of these small palettes they conjure up. I love their eyeshadow formula and the shades they create. I would repurchase both of these palettes in a heartbeat if I needed to (I obviously don't and have enough eyeshadow to last a hundred lifetimes). I really hope they come back out with the NaN palette repackaged. Some of those shades are just beautiful.  As for the NM palette. GO. BUY. IT. NOW.!. Seriously, GO!!! I haven't felt this strongly about an eyeshadow palette since the original Urban Decay Naked palette. This palette is simply matte-perfection. If you have been hesitating about purchasing this, don't, it's worth it. I will continue to use this palette on a daily basis. If I had to choose between this one or the Urban Decay Naked Basics (1 or 2), I'd choose the Too Faced. Hands down. Every time. No questions asked. End rant.

My favorite look I created with these palettes. Plus it's the eyeshadow look I used for my birthday!!!

Have you used either of these palettes? Let me know!!! xoxoxo

May One Month, One Palette: Lorac Pro

May's One Month, One Palette ~ The Wonky Brow

This month I chose to (FINALLY) use my Lorac Pro palette. I have had this baby for a loooooooong time. And I hadn't touched it. Like at all. So I was really excited to dive into this palette and see what my thoughts were and if it was AS good as so many people swear it is... 
The Deets: This palette retails for $42 and you can find it at Ulta, Kohl's, and Beauty.com. It contains 16 warm, neutral shadows. 8 are shimmery and 8 are matte. If you are looking for a palette that contains everything you need from a neutral daytime look to a dramatic smoky eye, this is your palette. You won't need much else. 
The Palette:

Lorac Pro Palette

The Shadows: I used all but two shades in this palette, Black and White. For the matte shades I absolutely LOVE Mauve. I like using this shade in the crease because it's not your typically brown, it's a muted plum with a hint of pink to it. It's different and I like it. (The closest shade in my collection that I could find was MakeupGeek's Unexpected.) The other matte color I used consistently was Cream. Perfect brow bone color. As for the shimmery shades... I love them all. But since we are picking favorites here... I'd have to say Champagne- a great lid color that is similar to Urban Decay's Sin, Pewter- used on the lid and the outer corner, and Garnet- used in the outer corner and above my crease color to warm up a look. Pewter and Garnet are very interesting shades and were tricky for me to find dupes for. In fact, there is nothing in my collection that is similar to Garnet because it's shimmery and has a red-brown undertone. Most of the shadows I have with that type of undertone are matte. And Pewter, I thought I had tons of... But I only found one shade in the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, Mugshot, that was really similar, but it's still not quite the same. Mugshot is a touch lighter and reflects more when the light hits it.

Top to Bottom: Lorac Mauve, Urban Decay Nooner, Makeup Geek Unexpected, MAC Haux

Top to Bottom: Lorac Champagne, Urban Decay Sin, Lorac Garnet

Top: Lorac Pewter
Bottom: Urban Decay Mugshot

The Conclusion: This is definitely a palette I would recommend to anyone. Whether you are a makeup junkie like me... Or you just want one palette that can be used all the time, for work or a night out. You can create a variety of looks since there is such an assortment of colors. The shadows are soft and buttery and easily blendable. The only cons are that certain shades will kick up a lot of powder when you put your brush in it or they will have some fall out when placed on your eyes and the packaging gets dirty quickly. But like I've told you before, dirty packaging doesn't bother me. It means I'm using the product! As for the fact that some people love these shadows and say they are better than most others... I'd disagree. They are amazing shadows but I still prefer the formula of Urban Decay shadows to Lorac's. But that's just my personal preference! What do you think??? Let me know!!!

Eyeshadow Dupes; Can YOU Guess that Shadow???

So... I thought we'd play a fun lil' game today… Can YOU Guess that Shadow???  I am going to show you a series of eye shadow dupe (dupe= duplicate, a.k.a. twins) swatches and see if you can tell which is which… Answers will be posted at the end. Have fun and enjoy!!!

1. Mac Mythology and Imagine from Bare Minerals The Happy Place

2. Nude from the Lorac Pro Palette, NYX Aloha, and Mac Shroom
(These three have very subtle differences in my opinion. However, on the eye, they look the same.)

3. Mac Cranberry, Shadow #8 from Sonia Kashuk Jewel of an Eye Palette, Pink Sapphire from the Anastasia Lavish Palette, and Urban Decay Last call (To avoid confusion these four are together because when I separated them even I got confused. All together you can tell there are two very distinct tones.)

4. NYX Frosted Ocean, Urban Decay Evidence, and Shade #6 from Sonia Kashuk Jewel of an Eye Palette

5. Wet n Wild Crème Brûlée and Urban Decay Walk of Shame
(Sorry I'm sooooo pale you can barely see these!!!)

6. Mac Beauty Marked, Urban Decay Blackheart, and Wet n Wild shade #6 from Petal Pusher Palette

Cheers to the first edition of Can YOU Guess that Shadow??? Hopefully you enjoyed this post and possibly found a new dupe or two.  I know I had fun but what have I learned from all this??? I have wayyyyy to many eyeshadows… Ha! Just kidding… A girl can never have enough #eyeswag!  And don't forget to let me know how YOU did in the comments below!!!  xoxoxo- StephieeBee

Here are the answers:

1. Top- Imagine

Bottom- Mythology

2. Top- Aloha

Middle- Nude

Bottom- Shroom

3. Top- Cranberry

Second- Last Call

Third- Shade #8

Bottom- Pink Sapphire

4. Top- Evidence

Middle- Frosted Ocean

Bottom- Shade #6

5. Top-Walk of Shame 

Bottom- Crème Brûlée 

6. Top- Blackheart

Middle- Beauty Marked

Bottom- Shade #6