Smashbox Photo Op Eye Enhancing Palette- For Blue Eyes

Another great palette! My conversion to Smashbox eye palettes started with the Eye Lights palette a year or so ago. I have it in "Beam" - it's absolutely gorgeous and people seem to compliment my eye makeup a lot when I am wearing it. People have also complimented me when wearing this palette as well. Go Smashbox!

Smashbox has 3 palettes in the photo op collection; for blue eyes, hazel eyes, and brown eyes. All of the colors are beautiful so I'm sure any eye color can find something usable, whether it be neutral or contrasting. I obviously went with blue! This is an interesting palette because unlike other palettes made for certain eye colors, it's pretty technically correct. Eyeshadow #2 in the top row and #1 in the bottom row have a distinctly orange-peach color when applied. Some people may not like that, but when you play with it you can see it really does enhance blue eyes. Anyone who has taken color theory or just looked at a color wheel knows that orange complements blue. When shaded and mixed with the other shades in the palette the colors look quite nice.

The sizes of the eyeshadows are pretty generous- I've seen some palettes with shadows the size of a dime! Sorry, but so not for me. I don't want to worry about running out of color in the first month. They are fairly smooth and don't create a lot of fall out, which is nice when I forget to do my eyes before my face. The browns are true browns- and I love the matte brown they included on the bottom row. It's a nice collection of colors; I've easily created day and night time looks and haven't wished for more of a selection. The only color I haven't used a whole lot is the silvery shade on the top row... Maybe someone can enlighten me with ideas for that!


The packaging is sturdy and easy to travel with because it's slim. I like that they didn't include any fluff pieces- like the eyeshadow brushes most palettes come with but no one ever uses! Now I can look at a nice palette without an empty area on the bottom where the brushes used to be. All in all, I would recommend this palette to someone with blue eyes, and to everyone else for great neutral shades.

Brows are muy importante.

Besides my wonky eye these pictures illustrate the importance of a good filled-in brow. For those of us with sparse or lightly colored brows it makes all the difference in the world. If I don't do my brows in the morning my look just doesn't seem to pull together right. I use Urban Decay's Brow Box. (Wow... I do use a lot of UD!) It's great because it has a light and dark shade, small brush, tiny tweezers, and wax all in one compact box. It's also the only brow product I've used thus far that has the most natural color and the longest wear. Bravo! What do you use on your brows?

L'Oreal Evercreme Cleansing Conditoner Review

L'Oreal has had success with it's Everpure drugstore line - sulfate free shampoos, conditioners and styling products - and has slowly added more lines. The cleansing conditioner is part of the Evercreme line, the newest addition to our local drugstores! As soon as I saw a cleansing conditioner from L'Oreal, I knew I had to try it. Cleansing conditioners have been mostly a specialty item until now, mostly purchased by with customers with curly or very dry hair. There are a few stores that carry them but nothing like the range of stores that carries L'Oreal's product. I found mine in my local CVS for $6.99. Now if it works long term... that is saving a lot of money! Instead of buying shampoo and conditioner every time, you can buy a cleansing conditioner. And for $7 + change, that isn't a bad deal.

To preface this review: if you have an oily scalp that you must wash every day, this might not be the ideal product for you to use. You can try it, it could be a nice break in between washes, but it is specified for "any dry hair type".

The bottle is pretty typical but one small difference is the pump. I wish more shampoos and conditioners would come in pumps, they are so much easier to use. I've read some negative thoughts about the pump however. The gist of it is that the pump does not dispense enough product. I think with a cleansing conditioner you do have to be wary of how much you are using, it's not like shampoo where you can keep adding more and not really see a big difference (except squeaky clean hair). So in my opinion the pump dispensing small amounts is a good thing, it's always good to start slow with a new product and see how much works for your hair and scalp. I used about 5 pumps and it was perfect.

It does have a fragrance. If you do not like fragrances, you most likely won't like this. So please do smell before you buy. I always do!

It lathers fairly well for a sulfate free conditioner. I have had SLS free shampoos that didn't lather as well as this! So don't be worried about your hair feeling dirty. I left it in for about 3 minutes and then rinsed out. My hair was much silkier and softer, and clean. Perfect. This is all I ever want my shampoo and conditioner to do, and this product did a better job. It was very easy to comb out after as well. I used my Blow the Heat is On Protective Styling Mist and and Joico K-Pak Color Restorative Styling oil and did a nice blow dry. My hair looks really smooth (no frizzies!!) and feels amazing.

I will continue to update to see how well this product performs long term- but as of now, I am a happy camper!

Kate Somerville EradiKate - Best spot treatment ever.

This is the one skin care product I will never be without. YES, never. I have tried so many spot treatments so far in my life, and none have compared to Kate Somerville's EradiKate. It's first ingredient is sulfur, then isopropyl alcohol (in the skin-appropriate percentage), water, camphor, magnesium aluminum silicate, salicylic acid, iron oxides, and zinc oxide. Sulfur is obviously the most notable ingredient in this product. Sulfur can do a lot for acne prone skin, but it has to be used consistently and in the right formulation. Sulfur masks certainly do help with acne, but I feel a nightly treatment is a lot more effective- and therefore a wiser investment for those who struggle with acne on more than a monthly basis.

Most spot treatments I've tried have done one or more of the following: made me dry or flaky, created stickiness, increased redness, plain didn't work, or actually exacerbated my breakout. The good thing about the KS product is that it's so extremely gentle. I never get dryness, redness, or breakouts from it- just the opposite. If I use this nightly I almost never (knock on wood) get really noticeable breakouts. It does leave a light pink spot where you apply it, but if you are going to look better during the day... I don't see a problem! Haha, my boyfriend and family know. They see it every night. I use it over any serums/moisturizers, it works over pretty much anything.

It retails for $22/1 oz. This may seem expensive for a spot treatment but it lasts for at least 3 months (mine usually lasts longer) and it's the best. No irritation and it actually works. Let me know what you think!

Dark Vs. Light with Naked2

This palette is turning out to be versatile as I had hoped. I have been chosen for jury duty this and next week so I have just been taking quick snapshots before I run to court. These looks really illustrate how different someone can look depending on the amount and shades of makeup used! The only problem I am having with the Naked2 palette is that there is only one highlighter shade I can comfortably use. On someone with more medium-darker skin there would be more options, but for me, just one! Let me know what you think. :)