AitU♔

Kat Von D's newest palette release is a stunning selection of jewel tones inspired by Egypt. It's a beautiful modern interpretation of ancient beauty; glittering gold, jade green, blood red, and more. Not only is the palette of amazing quality, but is also cruelty free and vegan. Kat's palettes are always highly anticipated and treasured, and this one is no exception.


The packaging is a unique shape; both longer and taller than any other palettes I have, giving it a hefty (and yes, a bit coffin-like) feel. It's the standard pressed cardboard with a strong magnetic closure and a sizeable mirror. The loose shade, Prophet, can be pulled out with a little muscle, is not glued in or attached, and is a regular circular plastic jar with a sifter insert. The shadow pans seem to be the same size as the Mi Vida Loca palette pans. Adding a brush would have made everything too big and bulky, and considering KVD has a line of brushes, isn't needed.


The box design and palette design is pretty much identical, showing the shades on the back.



All of the shades are types of metallics, other than Bloodmilk and Venom. On my eyes, Bloodmilk was a little chalky at first but was fine with some blending. I haven't used Venom yet as of the moment but it was fairly difficult to swatch. Every other shade was very easy to use. Their textures vary; Ankh has thicker glitter chunks in a more so matte base, and Nile feels more velvety and less metallic than the others. Scarab has a bit of a two-tone reflect. Hieroglyph is a little thinner of a texture, but still buttery and pigmented. Prophet is a "thick" sort of loose shadow, and swatched very pigmented and soft, a more yellow-gold than Medusa. It was very interesting to feel the slight texture differences among metallics.

This is a beautiful, quality palette whether you already enjoy non-neutral colors or are fairly new to them. The jewel tones aren't too bright or unnatural, making them great for day to day wear as well as use in every season, and especially stunning for holidays. Medusa, Ankh, and Prophet are the palette's neutral shades; they could be worn alone or together for a natural look, or paired with one or two jewel tones.


Worth The Hype?

Absolutely! The quality is even beyond previous KVD palettes, and the range of colors is tasteful and clever. At $45 it isn't on the cheap side of palettes, but I feel it is definitely worth it for eight excellent pressed shadows and a loose shadow. The palette is limited edition, so if you are interested in it, definitely grab it up during Sephora's next restock.


xx,
       Charity

   I love this palette! If you already have neutral shimmer palettes, this isn't super new, but if you're looking for one, definitely give it a try! The shade selection is great; I wish there was a black, but I can't complain. The dark brown goes pretty dark if packed on. There's two light shades, one matte and one shimmer, and several mid browns in different tones. You could go very warm or slightly more cool. The formula is very smooth and consistent throughout the palette. There isn't a chalky or odd-textured shade. My one qualm is the one thing I find with Tarte shadows; if you layer too many, they get muddy and you lose depth. It's better to choose one mid-tone shade to put all over, one dark shade, and then keep a light shade just in highlight areas.

   So far I have used it for a nice natural look with a soft lip, and a darker look paired with bold lips. It's very versatile. Use a good primer if you have hooded eyes!




xx,
        Charity

Legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath is known for her iconic, impeccable artistry and influence, and now, she's expanded even further, creating her very own luxe, innovative beauty products. Her newest is the freshly-released Skin Fetish 003- a trio of highlighters and a brush to boot. There are two sets; Nude, which is quite muted, and Golden, which definitely has stronger gold tones. Having very fair skin, Nude looked to be a better choice.

I overpack, overworry, and overmakeup. Will I need seven lipsticks and a neon palette? Who knows. But they're in the bag.

My main concern with makeup while away is keeping everything on my face in place. I wouldn't leave my hotel room unless I was loaded with powder and setting spray. I either use matte liquid lipsticks or super matte bullets. Especially in the Florida heat. Here's what I packed for a recent weekend trip down to Orlando.

I love jars. Maybe it's being Southern, maybe it's being an OCD makeup hoarder. I keep pretty much all of the boxes and containers from high end (and extra pretty low-end) makeup. There's several reasons:

1. They're gorgeous! You're paying for high-end, so might as well find a use for those gold YSL boxes and Kat Von D's hand-drawn designs.

2. In case I need to return something. I keep all the boxes and baubles in jars or an old Sephora shipping box, and the receipts all in one little Sephora bag.

3. In cause I decide to resell something after the 90 day Sephora limit has passed. I find that things sell quickly and customers are super happy when the original boxes are included and have been kept intact.


This is super easy, fun, and inexpensive. I got the massive jar at Wal Mart for about $11. The cylinder was from Michael's and was a bit more. I'm up to four jars from different places.

Time to get out those boxes and flex your Tetris skills.



It's a matter of choosing which boxes you want to be visible, and which ones you want to stuff in the center to keep everything in place. Start at the first row at the base; work between stacking and placing your outer boxes while also bracing them from the center so nothing falls over. Keep going, checking every angle to make sure you like how everything's going. You'll find you can get really crafty with finding boxes to fit in gaps!

I have these two on a shelf in my home office, and another two in my bedroom. They would look great on a vanity or in a makeup room!





xx,
       Charity

I'm definitely not a connoisseur of hair, but I am picky about what I use, especially since I went and stayed blonde about a year and a half ago. Another thing about my hair is that I'm about sixty years oldschool; I usually wash my hair every 5-7 days. No, it's not gross. My hair is pretty healthy for being bleached and toned every few months, and the color stays great, too. There's no way you're going to keep a great color for more than two weeks if you wash your hair daily. That's a whole different blogpost though!

   I like products that make my hair silky and smooth without making it oily and flat. Luckily I've found a shampoo and conditioner that seems to do both, as well as supporting products that help it out even more.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm definitely a bit picky when it comes to products. Rather than just having a massive collection of makeup, I like to have quality products I actually use and that work for me. I'm not going to keep around a palette or lipstick that doesn't make me feel confident when I wear it--whether it's patchy shadows, a cakey foundation, or sticky lipgloss. I hate having to return things to the store, but my rule is if it's over $15, I most likely will if I don't like it. And if I don't, I'll probably resell it on an app later. Here are some of the products I have or have had and just couldn't keep.

Something that I am particularly particular about is blushes--certain colors, textures, and formulas. I don't buy them often because, like many products, I prefer to find a few I really like versus just collecting them up in heaps. I find myself drawn to one particular shade, so it can be hard for me to veer from it. Here is what I've picked up in the last two months and really loved.

Prenup

 I recently picked up one of each of Nyx's eyebrow pencils during a BOGO 50% sale on Ulta's site. I originally wanted the Anastasia Brow Wiz, but swatches showed that the Nyx Micro Brow is a bit more cool-toned, which is my main focus. I also saw that Nyx has a pencil in gray- like, totally grey! Perfect for platinum or silver hair. My current hair isn't grey enough for it, but layering a bit of it over the Micro pencil cools it down a bit even more.

There's been a lot of talk about MUG lately, and being on an eyeshadow single testing quest for my Z Palettes, I gave them a try. I chose a variety of finishes as well as what caught my eye.

Colourpop is a brand born, raised, and managed right here in the states, in L.A. and are cruelty-free. They have branched out from eyeshadows and lipsticks to liquid lipsticks, brow products, highlighters and blushes, and beyond. They're known for their great prices, unique products, and fun colors.


   I got several eyeshadows from them last year and was instantly in love. Recently I got in another order in which I decided to dabble in more of what they've come out with since then.

I finally got my hands on this dreamy palette and couldn't wait to share about it!

How you place eyeshadow can make a big difference in how your eyes and their shape look, and knowing what you're doing is the best way to do exactly what you intend. Hooded eyes or eyes with a heavy crease fold have a tricky way of definitely not accepting eyeshadow shapes the way they look on big or non-hooded eyes; this is one of the main reasons people get frustrated trying to copy looks they see in photos online or tutorials. It may not be you, it just might be your eye shape! A girl with big, round eyes with tons of mobile eyelid space is definitely going to be able to do different looks than smaller, hooded, or monolid eyes. Neither way is wrong- it's just a matter of knowing what suits your eye shape, just like face shapes and body types. You might do a super clean, sharp cat eye then open your eye and look straight on and it looks awful and droopy- see? Not always an error in skill.
   Also, sometimes people have eyes that aren't totally symmetrical- most commonly they have hooded eyes that are drooped slightly different, and monolids can have the same problem. The best way to help even them out is through tactfully done eyeshadow.

   I've collected some images of my eye looks and categorized them into different shapes. I hope that my hooded/heavy lidded eyes can serve as a better reference point for those with similar eyes.

Using a mid-tone eyeshadow; on the top, blended past my crease. On the bottom, blended under my crease.

April 18-22 was our time in New York City for Bridal Fashion Week. We stayed in Midtown Manhattan, which is within walking distance to pretty much everything- Central Park, Times Square, Trump Tower, and all that cool jazz. We did quite a lot of exploring, and out of all the places, Midtown and Upper East Side are probably still my favorite. There was so much to see and take in, and I probably took way too many photos.
(btw, here's my full trip album on Facebook.)

  The shows and gowns were amazing. We started off on Thursday with a David's Bridal walkthrough.

David's is on top of the 20's theme this year. This back was my favorite.

Fit for Daisy.

Their inspiration board

In preparation for the trip to NYC in a few days, I've been crazily getting together all the little things I'll need, as well as trying some new products that I've been eyeing- specifically some Urban Decay.