Urban Decay Naked 3

Naked 3 Palette ($52) - Sephora

I'm a bit late to the bandwagon. Not in the sense of owning it, but waiting for forever until I finally posted my review of the new Urban Decay Naked 3 palette! A gorgeous 12-shadow palette, I think UD keeps getting better and better, unlike many of those Hollywood sequel movies that should not have happened (Hangover 3? Eh. Step Up 2, 3, 4? No, thanks.).

In rose-gold packaging, this palette features many shades that seem to be a part of the rose-gold "craze" that so many people love, myself included. Four of the shades are matte -- Strange, Limit, Nooner, Darkside -- while the rest boast beautiful, largely subtle shimmer.

Strange: matte, neutral pale pink

Dust: very shimmery neutral pink with some fine glitter

Burnout: satin-finish rose-gold 

Limit: matte mauve with a neutral undertone

Buzz: very shimmery rose gold with some glitter

Trick: gold/copper-based shimmer

Nooner: matte pink/brown deeper mauve

Liar: mauve/brown shimmer

Factory: brown-based satin

Mugshot: warm taupe shimmer

Darkside: dark taupe/brown satin

Blackheart: warm black with pink shimmer

I am just a huge Urban Decay fan in general so I guess I could come off a little biased when I talk about how much I love this palette. The pigmentation of every shadow is fantastic and you're easily able to create a beautiful neutral day look or amp up something darker for the evening. While I don't think that the rosy eyeshadow shades will look great on every skin tone, I think that there is enough variety that allows this to be an accessible palette for most. The price remains the same as the other two palettes and I'd consider investing in one of the others before this one if you are new to the "Naked" franchise. However, if you have the money and already own the first or second palette, I'd definitely recommend adding this to your collection when you get a chance. 

Amazonian Clay 'Natural Beauty' Blush

If you've read my blog for a while, than you know how much I love Tarte, particularly their blushes. Their blush in 'Dollface' has long been one of my all-time favorites and featured in many of my posts. For Christmas, I received another one of their blushes, this time in 'Natural Beauty'. A stunning deep pink/red color, I can't even truly describe how beautiful the color is. Definitely darker than my other blush of theirs, I was a little intimidated at first thinking of how it would look on my paler-than-pale skin tone. However, when I apply this blush, I do so to the backs of my cheeks and work my way forward. Most of the time, you simply apply your blush on the apples of your cheeks, but for a more flushed look you can work your way from the back and with some bronzer, creating a gorgeous glow. With this application technique, the blush looks natural and just like the real flush I'd get from the cold this time of year.

Packaging-wise, Tarte hits it out of the park as it's simply amazing. All of their products have such sturdy, amazing packaging that will always prompt me to bring on vacations as I never have to worry about it. The blush also has a small mirror, which is nice and I love that the outside shows something similar to what the inside is. Retailing at $26 (Sephora), I already can't wait to add yet another to my collection.

Twenty Fourteen

As much as I know I can't deny it any longer, it's still hard to wrap my head around the fact that it is now 2014. I honestly feel like it was just yesterday I was still in high school, worrying about where I'd be off to college and what I was going to do with my life. And now, all of that has come true and here I am!

While the year may not have started out the best for me, it certainly ended great. I have the best group of new friends from college and had so much fun my first semester. I've focused on some new things that I'm interested in like graphic design and web design, and left what wasn't making me all that happy behind. I'm excited to start this year off just as great and see where it takes me.

Gift Guide Part One: Beauty Buys

Happy December first! This is my absolute favorite time of year with the holidays coming around and the festive music, shopping, and food. I personally love buying gifts for all of my family and friends, so I decided to do a little gift guide for you guys to see what I have on my own list and what I'm planning to buy others. I split it into two sections, so today is the beauty guide, with the next part coming in a week. I hope this helps you guys or gives you some ideas as you shop!

Origins Gift Sets Kit / Caudalie Beauty Product / Tom Ford Lips / NARS Cosmetics / Benefit Cosmetic / Sephora Favorites Fragrance Rollerball Sampler For Her / CIATE Caviar Manicure Luxe Set / Lush

Fall Fashion

"Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." -Carol Bishop Hipps

DIY Makeup Brush Holders

College is a funny place. Even though you have such a tiny little dorm with limited space, you still end up needing to buy a whole lot and spend way more money than you thought possible. In order to minimize this, I decided I needed to get crafty and work on some DIY projects to personalize my area while not spending an absolute fortune like I gladly could have. In the end, these makeup brush holders that I made are probably my favorite DIY that I did. They're now sitting happily on my desk at school, taking up so much room that my desk resembles a vanity rather than a proper working space. It appears I've got my priorities straight!

Summer 2013 Reflection

Wow - the end of summer. I can't believe it's actually here! Instead of doing an August Favorites post, I decided to do a more personal post as this year this September means a big change for me: moving out of my house and heading to university. I feel like it's something that I've been waiting for my whole life, but something I've also been dreading. I enjoyed high school; yes, it was stressful and there were so many times I just wanted college to get here already, but I had amazing friends and enjoyed every second of it. Now that I'm moved out and on my own living with a stranger in a dorm in college, it's all too surreal for me still. I feel like this is just a test run or something and I'm heading back home in a few days - it hasn't quite sunk in that I'm not.

I have had such an amazing year so far, including this summer. I was able to go to Florida, travel to London, go to a concert, visit Martha's Vineyard, and so much more. I'm so grateful for all of that and still in shock that it's over. I think it's best described by the ultimate cliche: "It was over in a blink of an eye". That being said, I'm also excited at the possibility of what is to come in this chapter of my life. I know I'm going to meet some amazing (and not so amazing) people, go to different classes and learn new things, develop more interests and passions, and so much more.