Review -- Sigma Creme de Couture Collection

 Disclaimer: I am a Sigma affiliate, but I paid for all of these products with my own money. The post contains affiliate links.

I have been a big fan of Sigma's brushes for several years now.

I own the Essential Kit, the Premium Kit, the Mr. Bunny Essential Kit, several of the Sigmax brushes, and a few other singles, and I'm happy with all of them.

I hadn't tried any of their makeup products, though.

I'd been curious about some of the palettes that they put out and some of the shadow bases and eye liners totally caught my eye, but I never pulled the trigger for whatever reason.

When I saw the Creme de Couture Collection that came out recently, though, I finally caved and made my first Sigma makeup purchase.

The packaging alone, designed to look something like candy or pastry boxes, totally sucked me in.

That's how easy I am.

Review -- e.l.f. 32 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette

 I usually don't buy eye shadow palettes from e.l.f.

I find that their single eye shadows tend to be better quality than the palettes, so I mainly stick to those.

But I'm a sucker for any makeup product that looks cool/pretty/unique and since e.l.f's items are all pretty affordable, I was willing to take chance on the relatively new 32-piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette.

The palette was originally $12, which is a pretty good deal for 30+ shadows, but I actually picked it up for only $6, making it an even better deal.

Sadly, though, I still wouldn't recommend it for even $6.

The quality just isn't there.

Review -- bareMinerals READY Color Boost in The Adrenaline Rush

 I tried very hard to talk myself out of buying the bareMinerals READY Color Boost in The Adrenaline Rush, which came out as part of the Power Neutrals Collection a couple of months back.

Of course, I was drawn to the product -- I'm a sucker for any of these multi-shade cheek products, and I've loved virtually everything from bareMinerals' READY line that I've tried -- but I'd already bought a couple of blushes the month before and couldn't see justifying another cheek color purchase.

Then I read some blog posts reviewing it and watched a few youTube videos featuring it and I decided that I had to have it.

I'm ridiculous like that, you know.

But in the end, I'm really happy that I picked up The Adrenaline Rush.

Too Faced Palettes Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the Too Faced Palettes Giveaway. 

I'm happy to announce the winner is Jenny Brooke Erin.

Jenny, I've already emailed you, but when you get a chance, please send me your contact information so I can get your package in the mail ASAP.

If you didn't win this time around, don't worry -- I'm already planning the next giveaway.

And as always, thanks for reading the blog.

Bad Week

You've probably noticed that I haven't been around at all this past week.  I've pulled disappearing acts before I know, but I don't usually do it when I'm running a giveaway -- I like to post reminders so everyone has a chance to enter.  This week, though, has been one of the worst I've had in a long time.

If you've read the blog for a while, you've probably seen me mention Brownie, my Chocolate Lab.  She came into my life 10 years ago and since that day has been a endless source of joy and love... even when she was driving me crazy with her demanding, bratty tantrums.  We lost her this week under pretty unexpected, unforeseen circumstances.

If you have a pet, I don't have to explain how s/he becomes so much more than an animal. I don't have kids so Brownie was like my baby. I fussed over her, worried over her, indulged her, all of that. I work from home so we were together all day and my schedule was based almost entirely around hers. I got up at the time I did because that's when she needed to take her walk, and I took my breaks based on when she'd need something.  In other words, pretty much everything was about her.

Even this blog.

When I'd go out on the deck to take photos of items for reviews, she'd come with me and supervise.  Though sometimes she was pretty annoyed that the makeup was getting a little more attention than she was.

My little devil

I'm in a complete fog right now, so I'm asking for a little patience in the weeks ahead.  There will probably be some days when I'm too sad to think about, write about, even play with makeup, so I won't post anything to the blog. Then there will probably be days when reviewing a new lipstick or eye shadow is a nice distraction and I'll be happy to do it.  I'm just going to take it on a day by day basis.

The giveaway will end tonight as it's supposed to (thanks to everyone who entered) and I will announce the winner tomorrow.  I'll also get the prizes in the mail ASAP just like always.

If you've made it this far, thanks.  If you have pets at home, give them an extra hug or kiss today ... just because.

Giveaway Time -- Too Faced Natural at Night and Romantic Eye Shadow Collections (CLOSED)

It's been a while since I did a giveaway so I thought it was time to remedy that.

My Too Faced eye shadow collections are some of my most reached for palettes in my collection, which makes them an ideal giveaway prize. One lucky winner will receive the Too Faced Natural at Night Eye Shadow Collection and Romantic Eye Collection.

The Too Faced Natural at Night Palette contains sultry shades that are perfect for evening looks but still belong to the natural color range. The Romantic Eye Collection is full of soft, super feminine shades that are perfect for date night or any time you want to look extra flirty.

PSA -- Tarte Amazonian Eye & Cheek Palette on Sale at Sephora

The other day, I posted a review of the Tarte Amazonian Clay Eye & Cheek Palette.

It usually retails for $44, which I think is a pretty good deal for two blushes and six eye shadows.

But as I was perusing Sephora's sale section this morning, I realized that you can actually score the palette for $26 -- which makes it an absolutely amazing deal.

If you were thinking about picking it up, now is definitely the time.

There are some other good deals in Sephora's sale section too, so you may want to check it out.

Happy shopping!

Review -- Best of BECCA Kit from Sephora

(In my last review of the Tarte Amazonian Eye & Cheek Palette, I mentioned that I had come across a couple of items that I'd forgotten to review when I got them at the beginning of the year. This is the second of those items.)

I've always been curious about the BECCA brand.

Maybe it's because Lisa Eldridge is always using products from the line in her tutorials and she makes them all look amazing.

(Of course, she makes everything look amazing, right?)

That's probably the main reason, actually.

But when you've never tried a brand and don't know that much about, it can be difficult to figure out where to start.

Fortunately for me, my aunt gave me the fabulous Best of BECCA Kit from Sephora for my birthday so I got to try a bunch of products at once.

It's a terrific way to introduce yourself to any brand, I think.

Review -- Tarte Amazonian Clay Eye & Cheek Palette

Recently, I've been reorganizing my makeup collection to try to make it a little neater and easier to access.

In the course of cleaning out drawers and moving items around, I realized that I had a couple of items that I received at the beginning of the year (at Christmas or for my birthday) that I never got around to reviewing. When I realized that both were still available, I figured better late than never since both products are kind of interesting.

The first is the Tarte Amazonian Clay Eye & Cheek Palette.