Product Review -- Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina Eyeshadow Palette

I'm a big fan of Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palettes, so I am always interested in the new stuff that they put out.

(While I admit that some palettes are better than others, I think I'm one of the rare makeup junkies who's never been really disappointed by any of the ABH palettes. Even the Subculture Palette works pretty well for me.)

But when I saw promotional photos of the Norvina Eyeshadow Palette, I was even more excited than usual.

All the purples and pinks and gorgeous rich metallic shades?

Definitely right up my alley.

Product Review -- bareMineral Gen Nude Powder Blushes

I love blush -- I am so pale that if I don't add at least a hint of color to my cheeks, I can look sick or my eye makeup can look a little too harsh -- but in recent years, I find that it's not a makeup product that I tend to buy all that frequently.

Which is weird.

So recently I decided I needed to introduce a few new blush options to my collection and I came across the bareMinerals Gen Nude Powder Blushes.

I've been a big bareMinerals fan since I first tried their Original Loose Foundation back in college, and I've enjoyed their foray into pressed powder and liquid foundation products in recent years.

Which is why it was kind of a no-brainer to try their new blushes.

Product Review -- Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Stick

I am a highlighter fiend, which means I've never met a highlighting product that I didn't want to try.

I'll admit that I'm not quite as good at using cream or liquid highlighter products as I am with powder, so I don't have quite as many cream highlighters in my collection.

Which was why I so keen on trying the Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Stick -- I am a big fan of the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation, which has a lovely texture, so I was hoping that the Vanish Highlighting Stick would be similar.

Product Review -- Beauty Bakerie Cake Mix Demi-Matte Foundation

I've been on a big indie beauty brand kick for a while now, and Beauty Bakerie is one brand that has really impressed me over the past year or so.

I've tried some of their palettes and their fabulous Flour Setting Powder (whose packaging and whole marketing scheme is beyond adorable and ORIGINAL), but I was really excited to hear that they were coming out with a foundation.

That said, I knew that the Cake Mix Demi-Matte Foundation probably wasn't the best fit for my normal to dry skin -- the brand fully discloses that the product is best for oily skin in its marketing information -- but I still wanted to give it a try because I figured it might be an option that could work for my skin in the summer.

Product Review -- Hourglass Cosmetics Graphik Eyeshadow Palette

The very first high-end luxury makeup item I ever purchased was an Hourglass Cosmetics eyeshadow duo way back in the day.

That's what started my love affair with the brand, and despite their pretty steep prices, I'm always very curious about the new items they put out.  I don't always buy them, mind you, but I always at least consider it.

A few years back when they came out with brand new eyeshadow palettes (The Modernist Palettes, I believe they were called), I picked one up as soon as they were available -- so it was a serious bummer when I was pretty underwhelmed by the shadows.

Don't get me wrong... they were perfectly fine, but for $58 for just five shades, I'm expecting a little more than fine.

Still, when Hourglass came out with the Graphik Eyeshadow Palettes a few months ago, I picked one up without hesitation. The brand's track record still carries a lot more hits than misses in my book, so I figured it was definitely worth a try.

Product Review -- Alamar Cosmetics Reina Del Caribe Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 1

I've really been enjoying my subscription to Boxycharm because it's gotten me to try a lot of products that I wouldn't have otherwise but have wound up really liking.

The most recent case?

The Alamar Cosmetics Reina Del Caribe Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 1.

Alamar Cosmetics is a new brand, but while I'm always up for trying new brands, the color scheme of the Reina Del Caribe Vol. 1 Palette isn't one that I would necessarily gravitate towards on my own.