february favorites

LORAC PRO Palette 

I'm just in love with this palette. The matte eye shadow options seem endless to me and that's what I love about it. I've reached for it almost every day. See my full review and swatches here! 

L'oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions Mascara

Holy mascara. L'oreal seems to have done it again for me. Since January I've been on a "try new mascaras kick" and this is the only that really stands out to me. It lengthens, volumizes and separates my lashes like none other. Even better, the formula is completely clump free. This mascara means business and I'm loving it. 

Maybelline Color Whisper in Lust for Blush
I talked about these here, but didn't have this color yet. This color takes the cake for "your lips but better." It's my go-to lipstick for everyday. 

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer + Dark Spot Corrector

Since I love the Instant Age Rewind concealer for dark circles, I knew I had to try the dark spot corrector. It claims to treat the discoloration while you wear it. I have dark spots pretty much all over my cheeks thanks to acne scarring. I think this does at concealing my dark spots and evening everything out. 

NYX Blush in Pinched

I'm a big fan of NYX powder blushes. This one reminds me of NARS Orgasm. Peachy pink with some golden shimmer. It's so pretty an inexpensive. 

Elf Powder Brush

I don't know why I've never bought an ELF face brush before. One of my all-time favorite eye brushes is from ELF (more on that soon).  I guess because it's only $3.00, I would always think "hmmm, 3 dollars probably means hard bristles that could be rough my face." I couldn't have been more wrong. This brush is super soft. It applies and blends my powder, blush, bronzer, whatever I'm in the mood for, perfectly. Really glad I finally spent the whopping $3.00. 

What did you love in February?
xo, Mal

LORAC PRO Palette review + swatches

Today's post is featuring my newest love. The LORAC Pro Palette! 

Here's a little back story on how I finally purchased this palette.  

*cue flashback scene* It was early December. I was buying Christmas presents and kept eyeing the Lorac palette. My sister and I had just purchased all new makeup for her birthday. But, no eye shadows. I knew Linz would love the palette. So like a good sister, I went back and picked it up for her. But then it just kept staring at me in my room... unwrapped, in all of its mysterious glory like "Hey, I'm a palette you don't own yet. I dare you to not open me!" Yes, these are real conversations I have with myself sometimes. No shame people. So, obviously, I caved. I couldn't bare the thought of not opening it and having some fun with those shades. So I went and bought another one. And you know what, no buyer's remorse here! 

Here's an overall view of the shades. I've use this palette a lot already, so please excuse the "used" look! :)

The top row are completely matte shades. The bottom row are either shimmery or satin finish shades. 
That makes a total of 16 shades for $42.00. 

What drew me to this palette were the matte shades. I love matte eye shadows. And I don't think brands provide enough matte shades in their palettes. Especially the original Naked palette.

And here are the swatches. As always, the lighter shades are hard to capture on camera. 

For an all matte eye shadow look, I like using lt. pink in the inner corner, mauve on the lid, sable and espresso on the outer corner, and white or cream as a highlight shade on the brow bone. 

The shimmery shadows are even more pigmented. Nude, pewter, and gold are my most-used shades so far. I like using my Maybelline Color Tattoos (in bold gold and bad to the bronze) as base colors, and just experimenting with this row of colors. They compliment each other well and you can't really mess up.

I really like the packaging. It's very sleek and slim- much slimmer than the Naked palettes. The only drawback is the black casing attracts any fallout from the shadows, so it tends to look dirty fast. The palette also comes with a travel size of the Lorac Behind the Scenes eye primer. 

Like I said, it's $42.00 for 16 eyeshadows. You're paying a little over $2.00 for each. I'd say that's well worth your money if you love neutral eye palettes! 

I have honestly been reaching for this palette almost every day since I bought it. I didn't include it in my 2012 favorites, only because I bought it a week before the end of December, and I felt like I hadn't used it enough to really de-throne the Naked 2 palette yet. But, I will say that this palette will get a lot of use in 2013 and I highly recommend picking it up if you've been eyeing it! 

PS: You can also find me on Ashley's blog today: AshnFashn! Check it out!

xo, Mal