Urban Decay Naked Flushed

I Recently acquired the Urban Decay Naked Flush Bronzer/Highlihter/Blush trio during a trip to Ulta Beauty.

I have seen the trio talked about on the interwebs so I had to try it for myself.

First of all I love the packaging! it's so small and cute and it perfect for travel.

I  like that the dominant product is the bronzer in this palette, so as the seasons change so can your blush.

The Bronzer

Pictured with no flash

Pictured with flash

This bronzer has little to know shimmer and has a build-able quality leaving your bronzing options open.

Great for just defining your face or warming it up, this is a bronzer I will reach for often.

The Highlighter

Pictured without flash.

Pictured with flash.

This highlighter goes on smooth leaving behind a nice glow to the skin, enhancing and brightening.

I like how it doesn't over power but draws light to the face.

The Blush

Pictured without flash

Pictured with flash

This blush adds a perfect wash of color to the skin bringing forth you, rather than the product itself.

Swatches were applied heavily with finger application for photographic purposes.

As you can see through all three of these products my natural skin tone is still coming through. I like that they don't drown me out and allow me to come through. 

The Pros

Small packaging

Good amount of product

Not much shimmer in the bronzer

Buildable color

Not overpowering

Blush is universal

The Cons

None

So to wrap it up I am very happy with this trio and I know I will be using this product often. 

I am already in love with it!

This product retails for $30

Urbandecay.com

This product was purchased with my own money.

All thoughts and views expressed are my own.

Thanks for visiting! Please like & share this post. 

Leave me a comment and don't forget to leave your blog links :)

Stila in the moment eye shadow palette

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and the weather has been kind.

The Makeup Squid has gone through some changes recently and I hope you like them.

Today I will be going through a new palette I picked up recently through my adventures in makeup land.

I will admit this was a impulse buy. No thought, rhyme or reason here, just sheer madness.

This is actually my second Stila purchase, so I am pretty excited!

First of all I love the little quotes inside of these palettes cute and inspiring.

Sarah Lucero is a makeup artist you can read about her at sarahluceromakeup.com

If she had anything to do with the palette itself is unknown to me.

This palette boasts 10 colors and includes a eye liner.

The casing is card board. It has a very slim and sleek design it comes in a shimmery Lilac color.

The palette includes a full size Liner in a Purple shade called "Tetra".

The liner is a deep plum shade and had lavender glitter flecks in it.

The first swatch is with firm pressure, the second with a more light hand.

This stick applies smooth and does not tug on the skin.

It is a full sized and self sharpening.

The First Five Shadows

Instinct is a very shimmery white shade great for the inner eye area and brow bone highlight.

Impulse is a beautiful light shimmery pink, great for adding dimension to the center of the eye.

Glance is a Very fun and dramatic purple, great for a nice pop of color on any smokey eye.

Improvise is a deep plum shade with some shimmer in it, this color is a great crease color.

Catalyst is a soft black with flecks of silver here and there, great for a softer eye look.

These shadows were applied with a finger and no primer.

The Second Five Shadows

Desire is a lovely barley there color, great for blending and softening lines.

Wonder is a gorgeous peach shimmer that can be worn alone for a wash of color or as a accent color.

Spontaneous is a beautiful champagne shimmer that is perfect drawing attention to the eyes.

Whim is a brown/copper shimmer with gold flecks, worn alone or with others this is a great shadow.

Captivate is an amazing taupe shimmer color perfect for the crease or outer V.

These shadows were applied with a finger and no primer.

This palette includes a lookbook with some amazing looks. 

The Round Up

The Pros

Colors blend well

High color payoff

Good color range

Liner included

Cute case

LookBook

The Cons

No matte shades

Final Thoughts

Even though I did not have my sites set on this palette, I am glad I picked it up.

Even though I have a thing for mattes I know I will be grabbing this palette to add a touch of shimmer and sparkle to many eye looks.

This product was purchased with my own money.

All thoughts and views expressed are my own.

Thanks for visiting! Please like & share this post. Leave me a comment and don't forget to leave your blog links :)

Benefits of the Elf Brush Shampoo

We all love our brushes, they are the most important tools any makeup junkie can have.

They help me create my looks as well as make the ritual of putting on my face so much easier.

I don't know where I would be without my coveted brush collection. Cheap or expensive I love them all.

To keep my brushes in like new condition I wash them weekly.

As I have been doing this for years now, I have begun to dread brush washing day.

It hurts my back sitting at the sink for 45+ minuets.

I did the olive oil and antibacterial soap mixture, but sometimes it would leave my brushes feeling oily and I would have to rewash them the next day. And the drying time with this mixture I didn't care for either.

I was looking for something new, something to make my weekly ritual easier.

On a resent trip to Walmart I picked up a bottle of the Elf Brush Shampoo.

I used this shampoo on all of my brushes that were dirty at the time cheap and expensive. I found that the formula is watery and I was a bit worried, but I continued anyway.

When I really noticed what this shampoo can do was with my MAC 219 brush, the small white brush.

I had some electric blue shadow on it, I thought okay this $3.00 shampoo ain't gonna do crap on this brush.

I was gladly mistaken. It became white as snow once again. The product claims to be antibacterial, removing all traces of makeup from your brushes. And it does!!

After washing I laid them out to dry using my Brush Guards for the larger brushes and laying flat the smaller ones, such as the 219 brush.

About 4 hours later I needed the space I put my brushes on to dry, so I picked them up to move them and noticed they were completely dry! I got a little nervous thinking, okay I messed up all my brushes, it's over!
upon checking them I realized they were all dry and in better condition then then before the washing!

I truly love this brush shampoo and will continue to use it.

Benefits of the Elf  Brush Shampoo.

1. It is watery so you won't need to add that much water.
2. It works quickly no need to over work your brushes.
3. quick drying time, washed and rinsed well in the morning, ready for a evening out.
4. Packaging is easy for travel and dispensing is very controllable.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share or leave me a comment
I would love to hear your views on this amazing product!

What's up with subscription boxes?!

Subscription boxes have become all the rage in the beauty industry.

For a fee as low as $10 a month or a fee as high as $39.99 a month depending on what company you subscribe to, you will receive a box or a bag of beauty or health related products ranging from lip stains to the newest health foods.

With all of them you will go through a style or life style profile questionnaire thingy, Which from what I have read they don't even pay attention to. But you need to fill out regardless.

With most boxes you will receive  deluxe sample sizes of the newest and freshest products to hit the market from new companies or from old favorites.

When Ispy sent out full size Urban decay revolution lipsticks in venom, you could hear women praising the makeup gods from across the land. The lipstick itself paid for the subscription that month the rest of the products were bonuses.

When a company like Urban Decay want to spread joy and mayhem throughout the universe they do things like offer it through a subscription service to get a buzz going. After that box was sent out, that's all you heard and seen in the beautywebuverse. I just made that word up I like it.

After that I noticed a trend that the boxes have gotten so, so and people were questioning whether or not to cancel their subscriptions.

I don't think anyone should cancel their subscriptions. the truth is you get to try new products you may have never heard of, or only seen on the interwebs. So in my book its worth it.

Their are three major players in the Beauty subscription universe and please note these are only my views as who are the players here.

Ipsy at ipsy.com. There were around before Michelle Phan joined the team she helped skyrocket them into god like status.

Birchbox at birchbox.com. From what I have seen BirchBox is more of a skin care are of beauty rather than actual cosmetics. They also have a mens box which is kinda cool.

Then there is PopSugar Must have box from Popsugar.com. This box offers full size products with a little of everything from fashion, beauty and health foodie type stuff.

There are other subscription boxes for other countries but I haven't looked into any of them.

The thing is, keep your subscriptions going, you may not get a wow product every time, but you won't want to miss the next big thing to hit subscription boxes.

what beauty subscription service are you subscribed to?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!!

My Favorite Elf Products of 2013

ELF (Eyes, Lips, Face) Has come along way in the past few years and they are truly picking up their game.

With many dupes of high name brands you really cant go wrong for the price.

Many Elf items are priced between $1 to $6.

Not all of their products will wow you, but any makeup junkie will have some Elf staples in their stashes.

Elf makes just about any beauty product you could imagine From Brushes to shampoos to wash your favorite tools and is readily available and any Walmart or target as well as online at eyeslipsface.com

On a recent trip to Walmart I picked up a few goodies.

Elf Matte Lip Colors

These pencil lipsticks are amazing! Application is always smooth and the creamy formula makes them great for anyone who appreciates a great lip color. These lip colors can compete with higher end lipsticks all day long. The color range is in itself very real from nude through a vibrant cranberry.

These are perfect and well shaped to create a ombre lip or worn on their own.

Nearly Nude

Praline

Rich Red

Natural

Coral

As you can see these lipsticks are perfectly shaped for application.

They are twist up and you get a lot of product.

From left to right Nearly Nude, Praline, Rich Red, Natural & Coral.

The only color I was a bit disappointed in was (rich red) as you can see its more of a deep berry pink then a red, but I don't mind with a good liner it can still be rocked as a red.

These retail for $3.00

e.l.f. Essential Cover Everything Concealer in corrective yellow.

This is a creamy concealer that will help to hide any redness, however it isn't a full coverage.

I use this product as a highlighter under eyes, down my nose and on my cheek bones 

before I set my face with powder.

This Retails for $2.00

As you can see it is quite thick but blends easily leaving a nice highlight behind.

Elf Small Stipple Brush

This brush has received raves reviews from expert to amateur brush lovers.

I have been after this brush for a while now and I understand what all hype is about.

This brush is perfect for concealing, highlighting and contouring.

It is soft and just plain lovely.

This brush retails for $3.00

e.l.f. Studio Brush Shampoo

Eyeslipsface.com says:

An anti-bacterial brush cleanser for thorough cleaning in-between makeup applications. Disinfects brushes to provide a fresh and clean application every time. Washes away traces of dirt, makeup, oil and debris from your brush while conditioning the hair to provide a clean and soft application for every use.

I have been using this to clean my brushes for a while now and I love it!

Its disinfects them, cleans them and conditions them leaving them like new once dried.

I hate washing my brushes, but this makes it easier :)

This retails for $3.00

I do love these elf products and will continue to repurchase again.

Elf has come a long way and I hope they continue to rise and wow us with affordable beauty products.

Whats your favorite Elf product?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!