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. 

Estée Lauder 'Raisins' Duo

The 'Raisins' palette by Estée Lauder is an infamous palette in the beauty blog world. A gorgeous yet simple two-shadow palette became a staple in many everyday makeup stashes this past year when it was released as a limited edition. The first shadow is a flattering pale, shimmering pink color, balanced out with the deep burgundy second shadow. Highly pigmented and blended beautifully, I've yet to see this duo look anything but flawless on every single type of skin tone.