Eyes of the Day: Maya Mia Palette - Tropical Smokey Look

Maya Mia Palette Tropical Smokey Look

I'm so inspired by the Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia Palette that I find myself going back to it day after day trying to create new and exciting looks that make me step out of my routine comfort zone. This pop of Aqua is my homage to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica from my recent trip and a beautiful sunset overlooking the pier. You can check out my review of the Maya Mia Palette if you're contemplating a purchase!

Maya Mia Palette Tropical Smokey Look - Ambient Light

I really love how easily the colors can be blended together but how well they can also be placed to show the difference between them rather than getting all muddy like some eyeshadows can. If you'd like to purchase the palette, you can do so on Anastasia Beverly Hills website, Ulta, Sephora or Macy's.

Maya Mia Palette Tropical Smokey Look - Direct Sunlight

If you'd like to re-create this look, I have included a guide to help! I started with the crease color (Sienna) and then packed on the Deep Brown onto the outer 2/3rd's of my lid. I made sure to finish off the look with the pop of Aqua in the inner corner (but I purposely left this area blank when I applied the other colors and used a white eyeshadow base for maximum saturation). I blended out the top of the crease with Caramel and the outer edges of the eyes with Fresh Peach.

If you have this palette, I hope it keeps you in a summery mood all year long and that it inspires you to be passionate about your eyeshadow transformations often!

Ipsy August 2014 Glam Bag Unboxing

This is the August Ipsy Glambag I received - I wasn't particularly impressed with anything but all of the items were definitely usable. I received a Urban Decay Perversion Mascara, Klorane Dry Shampoo, Lord & Berry Eye Pencil, Jersey Shore Mongongo Lip Conditioner, and Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo. 

I like that this month they switched up the shape of the bag, as this one is definitely more spacious and great as a pencil case compared to the usual flat rectangular bags. It's constructed of a fairly stiff plastic material, however, so I could see this breaking after some extended usage.

The Coastal Scents Forever Blush Samples are extremely small but the pigmentation really packs a huge punch. A little of this blush probably goes a very long way and it seems like a worthwhile purchase from Coastal Scents.Value: $1.99

I am a huge fan of Dry Shampoo so this one from Klorane really hits the spot with me since I often cannot carry my full-sized ones in a travel bag (since they are too big for the TSA). This one is the perfect size for traveling.Value: $6.49

I was a little bummed I didn't receive the purple eyeliner from Urban Decay but this new Perversion  Mascara is worth a try. I like the natural brush fibers and the sleek packaging.Value: $5.50

This is a very tiny Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil in Black - This is great for throwing into a small purse when you're on the go and you may need to touch up your waterline. However, I've tried it out and the lasting power isn't great, it's fairly easy to smudge out and rub off.Value: $7.83

I love this Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Anti-aging Lip Conditioner. I can never get enough lip balm and this is the only full sized item in my bag this month. Value: $5.50

Total Value of Ipsy Bag: $27.31 - this is actually on the lower end of the value of bags I have ever received from Ipsy in the past year and a half.

Wet 'n Wild Fall 2014 ColorIcon Eyeshadow Palette Collection

The new Wet 'n Wild Coloricon eyeshadow palettes have arrived for the Fall 2014 collection, I was able to find these at Walgreens in the LA area this week. I picked up 3 of the 4 palettes released (Melrose at Night, Smoke and Melrose, Angels in Aubergine), I was not drawn to High Waisted Jeans because I'm not a big fan of blue eyeshadow, I don't find that it's the most flattering on my amber/brown eyes and fair skin tone.

Originally, I was skeptical about the performance of these quints because I have heard rather poor reviews of the permanent collection of quint eyeshadow palettes from Wet 'n Wild's new formulation, but I am so happy to announce that these shadows seem to be the old formulation!!! I hope you get a chance to pick these up if you're a fan of the old, phased-out, color icon shadow palettes. All of the shades are buttery smooth, ultra-pigmented, and have little fall-out.

These quints also feature a variety of glitter, metallic, mostly matte and satin eyeshadows, with Melrose at Night and Smoke and Melrose featuring many dupes of the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette.

Melrose at Night is a perfect daytime look palette if you're looking for a no muss, no fuss, palette. It's great for work or night time, you can always add more of the definer shade in the outer-V of your eye for increased dramatic effect. The Crease shade is my least favorite because it was probably the least pigmented shade out of all of the palettes, but still a better-than-average shadow.

The Smoke and Melrose palette is my absolute favorite, the Browbone shade is as perfect crease transition shade for me and I absolutely adore it (it is a dupe for Nooner from the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette). Smoke and Melrose is a darker, more warm-leaning palette than Melrose at Night, with the crease shade being much more metallic than the rest.

Angels in Aubergine features a wonderfully pigmented Base color, a nice pop of color in the browbone shade and a great way to create a few variations of the smokey eye palette with aubergine (maroon-purple) undertones. This was my least favorite of the palettes, only because I am less of a fan of smokey eye looks than other variations - that isn't to say you couldn't create a rather usual look with just the Browbone, Base and Definer shades. The crease color seems to have the most chunky glitter of all the shades in this range.

New Release: Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia Palette (Limited Edition)

This week, a brand new palette was released from Anastasia Beverly Hills, and it is a collaboration between them and the Tanzanian makeup artist Maya Mia (maya_mia_y on Instagram), this is right on the heels of their Amrezy Palette Release last month. I notice familiar names between their latest palettes so let me delve right into my review of this palette.

The outer packaging and the cover of the palette itself are identical on top, the color choice is vibrant and frankly my favorite to date from Anastasia. I feel like their packaging has gotten more attractive and complex as their palettes have progressed over time.

The palette itself comes with the same dual-ended brush that was seen in the Amrezy palette and it is a very handy, usable brush (one side is a shadow packing brush and the other is a fine crease brush).

The back of the outer packaging includes a small preview, short explanation of the style of the palette, and details ingredients used.

Repeat colors from the Amrezy palette: Glisten, Vanilla and Caramel. 

Repeat colors from the Lavish palette: Sienna.

Unique colors: Nude, Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Aqua, Fresh Peach, Gold Bar.

Out of the unique colors, the ones which performed best were Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Gold Bar and Fresh Peach. I found that Aqua had to be packed on in multiple layers to get decent pigmentation, otherwise it just seems like a sheer wash of light blue. I really liked the impact of Deep Brown, it's a great shade to cut your crease with and darken your outer corner. I like that although there are repeats of colors in this palette range, the pops of color are unique, since those are probably the colors used least.

This palette included something extra special: 5 free look cards which detail how to achieve each look on the back - this is a great inclusion to inspire your daily makeup, especially if you want to do something extra special.

I used the first look card, it consisted of 4 shades: Vanilla, Warm Taupe, Sienna and Deep Brown. I chose to go with a less dramatic black winged liner, and this is the look I achieved:

Overall, I really thoroughly enjoyed this palette and I was able to pick it up from the Anastasia Beverly Hills flagship salon and store in Beverly Hills, close to Rodeo Dr. - which made it an even better experience for me! I also picked up a Contour Kit and am excited to review that for you soon (I have used it every day since purchasing it!)

Sleek Arabian Nights Palette

The packaging on the Sleek Arabian Nights Palette is absolutely breathtaking, it gives you a smokey, mysterious vibe, which is exactly what this Limited Edition palette is all about. It features 12 shades so you can create a versatile Arabic eye, whether it be vibrant, smokey or neutral.

The packaging of the palette itself is a sleek, thin, black plastic design with the name of the palette printed for clarity. This palette is ideal for travel, with each color being about the size of a nickel. 

There is an overlay which has all of the shade names printed on top, this isn't my favorite feature but a majority of palettes are made this way - I much prefer having the names printed on the actual packaging. However, seeing as this palette retails for about $12, this is definitely not a big deal if it keeps the retail price low. 

The variety of colors is what really drew me to purchase this particular palette as my first Sleek palette. I really like that there are shades of beige, yellow, taupe, green, teal, blue, bronze, brown, gray, plum and black - wow what a selection! One thing to note, however, is that almost all of the colors have micro-glitter, glitter, or a metallic sheen with the exception of Stallion which appears to be mostly matte.

I'm really impressed with the pigmentation of the Sleek eyeshadows - they have really great color payoff. They're easy to blend and really do pack a punch when you use them on your eyes. However, I have noticed that it's easiest to get the color I want by packing it on with my finger than with a brush, especially on my lid. I also think they're chalkier than the shadows I'm typically used to (but I am comparing them to much more expensive, high end makeup). Simbad's Seas is a shadow that is so pigmented and beautifully unique, as a mix between blue and purple, that it's worth the entire purchase of this palette just to get it.

I am a huge fan of the brown-leaning shades, I think they're hits in this palette (see Genie, Stallion, Aladdin's Lamp). The one with the least color payoff is Valley of Diamonds but it is such a beautiful blush pink with gold glitter that I would work with this shade just to use it - I personally adore this color and it can soften an otherwise fairly severe color palette. 

I only have 1 other smokey eye palette and this really fills a need I had in my makeup collection, so I'm very happy with this purchase. I really am very surprised with the great quality of these shadows (specifically for the price point) and I recommend that everyone purchase at least 1 palette from Sleek to try out (they have a huge selection of options). I got my palette from Amazon, since it's not readily available in the US, but the delivery only took a couple of days!

Maybelline Color Tattoo Leather Collection

I was finally able to get my hands on the entire collection of the Maybelline Color Tattoo Leather Collection!! I'm so excited to bring you a look at the whole collection. All of these color tattoos are matte except for the color Chocolate Suede (which many have compared to Bad to the Bronze, but it is less metallic and more of a deep brown color) that has micro-glitter. As other reviewers have noted, the texture of these new color tattoos (which to my understanding are part of the permanent collection) is more smooth, buttery and applies more evenly.

The black in this collection is an absolute dream, it is everything and more than I ever originally hoped to see in a black when Stroke of Midnight (from the Dare To Go Nude collection) was released. I highly recommend picking up Dramatic Black as I have even been able to use it as a gel eyeliner for all day wear (I did notice a little bit of transferring after 8 hours of wear in the sun). My critique of this collection is that if you do not supplement with other shades, there isn't a light enough shade to be a highlight or which can be layered for a more ethereal look. 

Creamy Beige - Matte medium beige which is slightly taupe leaning

Vintage Plum - Matte smokey lavender with a grey tint (slightly patchy application)

Deep Forest - Matte sheer forest green and olive mix (patchy application)

Chocolate Suede - Medium brown with bronze micro-glitter 

Dramatic Black - Matte true black

I highly recommend picking up at least the Creamy Beige, Chocolate Suede and  Dramatic Black from this collection, you won't be disappointed! I am a huge color lover and I was even very happy with the Deep Forest and Vintage Plum shades even though their application wasn't as smooth (slightly patchy) as the others. 

Product Review: Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Blemish Cover Stick Concealer

Recently, at my local Duane Reade, I discovered a 50% off sale on the Boots No. 7 line (an import and blogger favorite from England) so I had decided to try out the Stay Perfect Blemish Cover Stick. This product is a spot or stick concealer which reminds me a lot of the Chanel Estompe Eclat Concealer (this is a huge throwback for me, it's the first concealer I ever used and I loved it to bits) in consistency, but it slightly less smooth/creamy. 

The packaging is sleek, it's a nice product for on-the-go cover-ups, and I even like it for under my eyes as it is thick enough that it does a good job of camouflaging the blue undertones when I have bags. It's a twist-up design which I think is far more hygenic than the MAC Studio Finish SPF35 Concealer. I chose the shade "Medium" because I thought the colors ran very fair in the range, which may be a problem if you're deeper skinned and want to look into this product.

In swatches of the Boots No. 7 Stay Perfect Blemish Cover Stick, it goes on fully opaque in one swipe and even when blended out, you can see how the consistency remains thick and it is full coverage. The medium has yellow to neutral undertones. I do find that the wear time is good, and there is little to no creasing, but I do make a point of setting all of my under-eye concealers with Tarte's Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder - this is just a habit I picked up years ago and you can use any translucent powder.

Overall, if you're in the market for a full-coverage spot concealer, definitely check this one out, it's not too oily that it will run down your face and will definitely stay in place all day. If you're having a hard time spreading thicker concealers, remember to warm them up with the tip of your finger and gently pat them onto your skin.