Hey guys! I'm super excited for today's review, which features the brand spankin' Marc Jacobs Beauty Velvet Noir Mascara & Primer*. I was lucky enough to get to try this out as a part of Influenster and I can't even tell you how excited I was about it. Admittedly, I don't try a lot of high end mascaras these days, because I have a lot of drugstore favorites that really get it done for me and it's hard to justify the spend. That said, there have been a handful of high end mascaras that have really stood above the rest for me and I was eager to know if this one would as well. 

Keep reading for more!

I feel like I'm supermuch behind the times on trying out the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer... but I admittedly tend to be that way. I think it was either early in 2017 or late in 2016 when this product was reformulated and everyone kind of went insane for it. I actually did want to buy it back then, but the shade selection was narrower when this was first relaunched - I believe - and I couldn't find one light enough for my skin. I actually got a sample of this with a Sephora order and after trying it out a handful a times, I decided to pick up a full size.

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I feel like every year during the holiday season, there's one palette that just grabs me and I NEED TO HAVE IT. This year, it was definitely the MAKE UP FOR EVER Lustrous Shadow Palette, which is filled with the kind of shades that I can reach for all the time and boasts a new shadow formula. Though this palette is no longer available, I wanted to review it for you guys because of the new shadow formula. I actually own one of MUFE's palettes with the old formula... and I have to admit, I wasn't completely in love with the formula - more on that later - so I was curious about how this palette was going to stack up.

To find out how it worked out for me, keep reading!

Every year during the holidays tarte releases a blush palette and I've always been tempted but I never pulled the trigger until this year. The Sephora Birthday Gift this year included an absolutely gorgeous tarte blush and I pretty much used nothing else on my cheeks for the last four months of 2017, so it was easy for me to decide to try out the TARTE Blush Bazaar Amazonian Clay Blush Palette when I ended up withe some gift cards I was itching to spend.

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There are some beauty brands that I've had my eye on for a long time, but haven't pulled the trigger on trying out. For a long time, Rodial was one of those brands. I was fascinated and super interested in their products, but I wasn't sure what to try out and because it has a more luxury price tag I didn't want to choose wrong. Enter the Rodial Hero Collection Kit, which includes travel sizes of four of their best selling products. I've been testing this out for nearly a month now and I'm definitely ready to give you my review.

Keep reading for more.

I've become a little bit of a collector of the small palettes that tarte has been releasing for the past few years. In fact, one of my all time favorite palettes is the tarte Tarteist Pro To Go palette and I still reach for it really consistently and find it quite versatile for having only six shades in it. Because I loved that palette so much, there was really no question as to whether or not I was going to pick up the tarte Tartelette Flirt Palette as soon as the Sephora VIB Rouge Sale started.

So... How is it and how does it stack up to the Tarteist Pro To Go and the Tartelette Tease palettes? Keep reading to find out!

Confession time... I'm a bit of a mascara junkie. I swear, at any given time I have at least 5 or 6 mascaras that I'm actively using and then inevitably a bunch more that I have on hand but am not really reaching for. It's an obsession - a constant search for the perfect mascara. Mascara is one of those things in makeup that I think can be really subjective, with different people looking for different things in their products. I personally need a mascara that's going to build some serious volume, hold a curl, and stay put even though my eyes, particularly my left one, water like mad. Recently, I've been testing out the Mirenesse Secret Weapon Supreme 24 Hr Mascara* and I had high hopes for it. 

Keep reading to find out how this worked for me!

I think I've becoming a little bit more disenchanted with holiday sets than I used to be. I used to go ham and put every single one on my wishlist, but that's not really the case anymore. In order to get me to want to spend my money, a holiday release either has to be a really great value set or it needs to be an incredibly interesting and unique product. The first one that really grabbed me this year and had me setting an in stock alert over on Sephora was the Smashbox Drawn In. Decked Out. Shadow + Highlight Palette Set. As soon as it was in stock, it was in my cart and ordered.

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I have to admit that I've kind of found myself over primer, but recently I've been finding some new formulas that have been getting it done. I've tried a lot in the past that didn't really do much for my skin, so I have a few favorites that I tend to stick to. In the past I've found that a lot of primers are not what I'm personally looking for. Heavy silicone primers meant to fill pores tend to feel heavy and make my makeup slide around and most mattifying, long wear primers tend to make my skin feel dry and tight. When I read the description of the Stila One Step Prime Face Primer*, I was intrigued and I really wanted to try it out because it sounded right up my alley.

How did it go? Keep reading for more!

I've gotta admit... I absolutely love false eyelashes and what they do for my eyes, but even though I've been wearing and loving them for quite a while now I'm not the best at applying them so I save them for special occasions. Recently, I got the chance to try out the Esqido Unforgettable Lashes + Companion Glue* and I have to say, I was pretty swoony about them right from the jump. One cool feature that the Esqido website has is the Interactive Lash Guide, which can help you select the style that's right for your eye shape and personal taste. I used this to choose my lashes and it was really helpful. 

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Are there ever products that you stumble upon in a store and just have to have, even though you've really never seen or heard anything about them? Generally, I like to look up swatches and read reviews of higher end beauty products before I pick them up - which is why I'm rarely first on the review train with big new releases - but as soon as I saw the PÜR Cosmetics Soiree Diaries Eyeshadow Palette, I had to have it and it went home with me that day. 

So, how did it work out? Keep reading for my review and swatches!

Recently, I had the chance to try out the Robin McGraw Revelation Luxury Skin Care Be The Brightest One In The Room 3-Step Brightening System* and, of course, I jumped at it because... well, obviously I'm obsessed with skin care formulas and I'm always interested in trying something new. Robin McGraw Revelation products are newly available in Canada and I think they're going to make a pretty exciting entrance. I have to admit... I didn't actually know who Robin McGraw was before doing research for this review and finding out that she's Dr. Phil's wife. Am I just completely out of the loop? Anyway, Robin McGraw teamed with Dr. Jessica Wu, a board certified dermatologist, to create a line of sophisticated products that won't break the bank. So how did they do?

For more info on each of the products and to see how they worked for me, keep reading. 

I have to admit that I generally stick to lower cost mascaras because I go through them quickly and I do like more drugstore formulas, but my all time favorite mascaras are from high end and luxury brands. Recently, as a part of the Canadian Beauty Bloggers Network, I got the opportunity to try out the new Givenchy Noir Interdit Mascara*, which definitely fits into the luxury category, but also stands out for a design innovation that I've personally never seen before.

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When it comes to my luxury Wish List, there are really a lot of things from Charlotte Tilbury on that list. Until now, I hadn't owned anything from the brand because I don't have a local stockist and I like to swatch and test higher end products before I pick them up. However, I've had Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipsticks* in my cart more than a few times in the past, because they've pretty much topped my wishlist for quite some time now. Recently, I finally got the chance to try them out and I'm over the moon excited. 

For more about these lipsticks, keep reading!

When I was thinking about my favorites this month, I realized that I have a tendency to get really obsessed with types of products rather than specific products themselves, so I decided to do my favorites a little bit different this month. Basically, I wanted to pick my favorite products in the categories that I've been most gravitating to this month. I think this works well because maybe it'll inspire you to reach for similar products in your own collection or give you some options of products to pick up if you're also loving those categories. If you like this format, let me know in the comments because I'd love to keep doing it!

Anyway, keep reading to see what I've been obsessed with this month!

I swear, every time I look at products from Paul & Joe, I am taken by their packaging. I feel like they've hit a kind of sweet spot where it's cute and super girly, but in a way that's just cheeky enough to keep it from being saccharine. Does this make any sense? This is how my brain works. Anyway, because I can't actually find the brand locally, I hadn't ever gotten my hands on any of their products until I recently got the chance to check out a couple of products from the Paul & Joe Daydream Believer Collection for Summer 2017. 

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Once upon a time, there was a vanilla powder from a Korean beauty brand that I was dying to get my hands on, but I didn't order it and now I feel like it just doesn't exist anymore - at least anywhere that I can find it online. I think that's a pretty significant part of why I picked up this powder - well, that, and all the good reviews I'd seen online. And, I mean, there's definitely something really appealing about the vintage look packaging of all of the Besame products, am I right?

I'm not going to ramble... Let's just get to the review, shall we?

I feel like seasonal wish lists might be a thing I start to do here on the blog more consistently. I really love looking through what's new or up and coming in the beauty world each season and putting together a list of what I want and why I want it. This wishlist is a little bit different from some of my other wishlists, because I decided to include skin care products that I'm lusting after as well.

So without too much more rambling, keep reading to take a look at what I'm lusting after!

I've actually been planning on reviewing the Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Palette for a few months now, but since it wasn't new it kind of ended up on the backburner. However, I decided that since there's been a bit of a spotlight put back on it based on some social media drama about dupes and whether or not copying-but-not-knocking-off is okay, it seemed like a good time to get this review out. Now, I don't want to really get into the drama, because I personally feel like there are good points to be made on both sides of the argument and I'm not interested in putting in my two cents, but I do want to tell you guys why I think that this palette is legitimately one of  the best palettes on the market and one that I think is worth everyone who can afford to spending the money on.

So if you want my thoughts on the pretty much iconic Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Palette, keep reading!

I have a confession... I'm much more likely to buy a small, more affordable high end palette than I am a big one even if the bigger one is actually a better value. I feel like I'm not alone in this and more and more we're seeing Sephora brands putting out smaller palettes recently. I think the reason I'm more likely to go for a smaller palette is actually twofold. First, I have so much eyeshadow at this point that it's hard to justify yet another large palette. And second, it feels like less of an investment so I'm able to buy them a lot more casually. Make sense? Anyway, I've actually been eyeing the tarte Tarteist Pro To Go Amazonian Clay Palette for a while now, but during the VIB Rouge shopping event recently I finally picked it up - and it's been a bit of an instant obsession.

For more on this palette, keep reading.