LORAC, Smashbox, Shoes, + Nail Advice

This will be my last post before going off to my cruise, so won’t be blogging for a whole week. !!

Anyway, my LORAC Best Dressed palette arrived, and I have to say…it looks even better in person! I totally took a chance and bought this sight unseen, but I gotta give myself a pat on the back, it was a good judgment call LOL.

Super cute case! Definitely the best packaging out of all the LORAC palettes.

Ummm can you just say perfection in a box?! The most perfect palette of neutrals that I have ever seen. Everything works and is ultra flattering on Asian skintones. The brush is also soft and fluffy. My ONLY complain was that the top right eyeshadow was kind of loose when I opened it…the glue was about to come undone! But it’s only minor I guess, I can just glue it back on myself. I’m just glad it didn’t fall off and shatter all over the place.

Check out the super intense color 2nd from the left. That’s the one that’s on the lower left corner of the palette. I love it. The first 2 and the last 2 colors do appear kind of similar, but I can live with that

The blush. The flash nearly wiped out all of the pigments in this swatch so I had to really adjust the colors in Photoshop to make it show. Hence the creepy patch of blue skin in the corner

So if you are on the fence about this palette…go and get it! It just might be the only palette you’ll ever need.

I also went to Costco today to buy my Neutrogena sunscreen in the jumbo pack, and I came across this Smashbox set that includes 3 lipglosses (albeit the older packaging), a luminizer palette thing, and a lip gloss duo…all for $9.98! I mean if you head over to the Smashbox website right now, you’ll see that the lipglosses are on sale for $11.99 EACH, making this set a really sweet deal. So I grabbed it

L to R: Lipglosses in Desire, Bombshell, and 35mm. Love the latter 2, not so much the first one. It’s a bit too frosty on me.

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This is actually what drew me the most to this package, I always wanted one of these luminizer wheel things. This is a great alternative to the Napoleon Perdis Light Patrol Luminizer Palette being sold in Sephora for a whopping $60!!

Sixty bucks for this vs. less than $10 for the Smashbox one. You do the math.

I was afraid the texture would be too greasy, but it actually dried to a powdery finish that reminded me a lot of the NARS Multiples.

They are highly pigmented and the shimmers are super fine.

lastly, the lip brilliance duo. Honestly this was NOTHING to write home about. In fact, I think I’m going to either toss it or give it away because the colors are just honestly…UGLY. So ugly that I didn’t even bother doing swatches. But still, even without this thing, the whole set is still quite a bargain

Finally, I stopped by Macy’s to look at the new Heatherette collection from MAC. Um nothing looked appealing except for the super cute packaging. Besides, I have enough makeup already without being constantly tempted by MAC. So I walked over to the shoe department and lo and behold, I spotted the cutest pair of pointy red pumps from Ralph Lauren that were on sale! It was the very last pair and it was my size! It’s made of super soft lambskin when I tried them on, they conformed to my feet like I had already broken them in. I always hated wearing pointy shoes because they hurt like a bitch, but these were soo soft and comfortable that I couldn’t resist them. Not to mention, they ended up being only $30

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OK so I am having a little nail problem. I have been using Orly’s Ridge Filler as a base coat for a while now, and I suspect that it’s making my nails dry, brittle, and peeling. I used to use a strengthening base coat that protected my nails from peeling but the basecoat ITSELF started peeling off right after I apply! So I need to find a good basecoat that will not peel off or make my nails dry and brittle. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated