Hey guys! So, I don't generally buy things unless I have a reasonable assumption that I'm going to like it. Whether that's because I've seen reviews or because I'm familiar with a brand and have confidence in their quality, I'm most likely to spend my money on things I have confidence in. Recently though, while out shopping, I encountered the Rude Cosmetics The Rude Awakening Book 5 Eyeshadow Palette and even though I couldn't find any reviews online before purchasing, I decided to take a chance on it and ultimately review it here on the palette in hopes that I might give other people some context before they make their buying decision about this palette - make sure you read right to the end. 

Keep reading for more!

I've not made it a secret here on the blog that the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette is probably my favorite of all time. Between the colour selection, which at the time it was released was entirely unique on top of being really versatile, and a shadow formula that blows most other brands out of the water in my opinion, it's continued to be a go to for me. Since then, however, I've resisting picking up any more ABH palettes. It might be because they didn't sing to me the way the Modern Renaissance did or perhaps because of bad reviews (like Subculture, which had an incredible colour story and, by most accounts, an atrocious formula). However, I was drawn to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina palette as soon as I saw it and I just couldn't resist picking it up. 

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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!

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!

When the Buxom custom eyeshadow palettes came out, I admittedly didn't pay all that much attention. I think that I've actually been a little bit remiss in paying attention to most Buxom releases because, through no fault of their own, they've never really been a go to brand for me. Recently, however, (and with the help of a possible glitch on the Sephora website) I decided to put together a perfect fall palette using shades from Buxom's collection and I'm officially obsessed with this eyeshadow formula. OBSESSED.

Want to know more? Keep reading!

I have a whole list of products that aren't new, but that I've been eyeing up for a while and really wanted in my collection. These are pretty much always mid-range to higher end products, because like a lot of people I do need to be mindful of my spending and makeup spending is pretty much where all of my extra budget goes. Anyway, I've had my eye on the PÜR Cosmetics Soul Mattes Palette for a while now and I finally decided that I needed to inject it into my collection during a trip to my favorite Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique recently. I felt like this was the perfect time of year to do it,  because I really like mattes in the fall and these sorts of plum and mauve shades are what I tend to gravitate as the weather starts to get a little cooler.

Wanna know if it lived up to my hopes? Keep reading!

Raise your hand you've reached your limits on the same old nude and neutral palettes! I mean, don't actually raise your hand, but you know what I mean. Anyway, I'm over it. I've got all the nudes in my collection that I could possibly need and I'm on the lookout for palettes that are still wearable, but a little bit different than the other things I have in my collection. I'm admittedly not all that adventurous when it comes to my eye looks and bright pops are colour are more rare than I might like them to be, but I think it's time to change that a little bit. Why am I telling you this? Because I think the Makeup Revolution New-Trals vs. Neutrals Palette just might be what a lot of other people like me - sick of the same old neutrals but not quite ready to go full out colour - are looking for.

Keep reading to take a look!

I know that as a Canadian beauty junkie, I do complain a little bit about all the things that it's hard to find in Canada - but it really is a bummer when new drugstore products come out and we simply can't find them in our drugstores. Sometimes new products come out here quite a bit later than they do in the States, so we're left drooling over the products that Americans get and trying to plan a shopping trip across the border. One of the products that I've been itching to try out ever since I saw them talked about online are the Milani Everyday Eyes Palettes. This collection of 6 pan palettes was absolutely raved about by some of my favorite Influencers and I was itching to try them out, so as soon as I saw these my local Superstore there was no way I wasn't going home with one, and I decided the clear choice was the Earthly Elements palette, which is a selection of very warm neutrals. So, did it hold up?

Keep reading for more!

There are definitely some budget items that really stand out above all of the rest and I'd heard such good things about the e.l.f. Mad For Matte 10 Pan Eyeshadow Palette that I had a sneaking suspicion this was going to be one of those drugstore gems. Of course, it took us a while to get it locally here in Canada, but as soon as I saw it on the shelf recently, I knew I absolutely had to have it. I mean, don't get me wrong... That happens a lot. I'm a complete makeup junkie. But still, this one was in my basket without evening thinking about it.

Keep reading if you're interested in hearing more about this palette!

Storytime! On the first day of the recent Sephora VIB sale, this was the first thing to end up in my cart. I felt like it was a great deal and a great way to try out some new products from tarte. Unfortunately, as I spent the day going back and forth about how I was going to get myself to Free Shipping, it sold out and convinced me to try and be good and not buy anything just because of the sale. Of course, on the last day of the sale it came back in stock and I was able to see online that it was in stock at my local Sephora... so I had to buy it, right? Cosmically, it was a sign. Ahem. Yes, I justify such things this way. 

Anyway, I picked it up and I wanted to give my first impressions of the products here quickly - and hopefully it'll still be in stock for people to purchase!

So... I'm sure you've heard about this by now, but on the off chance that you didn't I figured I had no choice but to share my excitement and the gorgeousness of this collection!

I grew up on Jem. It was my absolute favorite when I was a kid and a few years ago I decided to rewatch the entire series while I was on a crafting bend. Of course, it was a little more psycho than I remembered it being, but it still had that bright, glittery nostalgia that I had been looking for. The movie is NOT something I am even a little bit excited about - since apparently taking the coolest cartoon for girls of the 80s and turning it into Emo Hannah Montana With Pink Eyeliner was someone in Hollywood's cruel plan. I saw the trailer and I cringed. Hard. They left out the HOLOGRAMS. Like, not the group, but the actual holograms. No Synergy. Oh, and Jerrica Benton is some kind of melancholy teenager making videos of herself singing in her bedroom, rather than running a record label. And then there appears to be your standard run-of-the-mill girlenemy tropes when Jem steals the spotlight. Puke. Way to bring down the bad ass, movie. UGH. Movie fail kicks the ass off my childhood nostalgia.

However, Sephora has gone and made it a little bit better by releasing this 4 piece Jem & The Holograms Collection that manages to capture that spirit of the TV show that the movie completely missed. With the original logo, all the pink a girl could ask for and a dash of Glitter & Gold, this collection is pretty much every 80s girl's dream collection. 

Jem and The Holograms: Truly Outrageous Liquid Lip Set
Create your own unique JEM-inspired lip with this five-piece liquid lipstick set.
$31CAD ($25US)

Jem and The Holograms: Truly Outrageous Eyeshadow Palette

Create endless, wearable JEM-inspired looks with this collection of matte, shimmer, and glitter eye shadows.

$49CAD ($39US)

Jem and The Holograms: Truly Outrageous Lipstick 

This creamy formula glides easily onto lips, leaving them with a bright pop of pink that is reminiscent of the iconic '80s pop look. 

$20CAD ($16US)

Jem and The Holograms: Truly Outrageous Compact Mirror

This flashy dual compact mirror is perfect for makeup application, touch-ups throughout the day, or travel. 

$23CAD ($18US) 

Clearly I'll be getting my hands on that liquid lipstick set if it's the last thing I do. And I'll be crossing my fingers that there is the perfect lippie in there for my Jem costume for this Halloween! So far these products have only gone live on the US site, but I'm waiting very impatiently for them to come available for us Canadian shoppers! Fingers crossed it's soon!

Will you be picking up anything from this collection???

I love when Essence releases new products - it's definitely a run out and grab them as soon as they're released kind of a thing. You guys know all about my love for Essence and probably also about my love for all things neutral. For me, these products are pretty much the best of everything - and the products that have been out overseas for a while that I've been dying to get my hands on. In case you were wondering, these are NOT Trend Edition products so you don't have to rush out to try and get your hands on them. Now, even though I wanted to, I didn't grab all of the new releases from this collection, but I did get my hands on a few of the products and I can't wait to tell you guys how they perform!

Keep reading for a closer look!

You may recall how much I liked the various items that I picked up from Makeup Revolution. If you do, you won't be surprised that when Freedom Makeup London, a company under the same umbrella as Makeup Revolution, launched I was eager to make my first order. Because they were offering Free International Shipping as well as a coupon code for 20% off, I really couldn't resist - Could I? Anyway, it took a while for this to get to me (not the fault of the company, but a fact of life in regards to overseas shipping and customs) but has finally arrived and I'm so excited to show you guys what I picked up!

Keep reading for a closer look at what I grabbed!

You guys know why I had to try this. I'd seen a couple of reviews that spoke really highly to the quality of these shadows and... I mean... Look at it, it's gorgeous to feast your eyes upon. I'm not going to dance around the dupe bush, even though I'm not going to review this as a dupe but as its own entity. This is, I'm told, a pretty bang on dupe for the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. If you do a quick search, you can find comparison swatches and reviews of that type. I don't own the Chocolate Bar palette and I never even really felt inclined to pick it up. Don't get me wrong, I always recognized the gorgeousness, but it never seemed worth it to me for the price and where it would land in my collection. Enter a lower cost option? Okay, I'm gonna try it. So I did.

Keep reading for my swatches and review!

So, the other day I talked about the Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 1 palette, and I figured that the next up in my Makeup Revolution review binge had to be the Iconic Pro 2. Makes sense, right? Really, the two palettes kinda go hand in hand and I will have a lot of the same things to say about this one. I'll try not to repeat myself too much on this one, but I might just have to a little bit. At the end, I'll give a little comparison of the two palettes in case someone is thinking about buying but only wants to get one. How's that?

Anyway, let's get on to the review, shall we?

I knew even before my Makeup Revolution order arrived that this was going to be the first item that I was going to both use and review. I'd seen reviews of this palette online and was dying to try it. Makeup Revolution boasts that this palette, along with its sister the Iconic Pro 2, contains their new Super-Elite eyeshadow formulation. Colour me intrigued! Let's not beat around the bush, these 2 Iconic Pro palettes are pretty much exact dupes - at least as far as the shades appear in the pan - of the Lorac Pro palettes and I have to admit that I'd always wanted to pick up the original Lorac Pro but only got around to deciding to get it when Lorac exited Sephora and the palette became exponentially more difficult to get my hands on in Canada. So of course, I can only review these palettes for what they are, not what they are trying to be. Get what I'm saying? Great!

Let's take a closer look at this baby!

I have a problem... I see these things that I'm not going to have the option of buying anymore and I can't seem to help myself. Oddly enough, I picked this up on a little jaunt to Target on my lunch break, and when I got back and sat down to enjoy a little bit of Youtube while I finished up said lunch break, I was met with a tutorial using this palette. I felt like that cosmically justified the purchase, right? The universe was telling me it was money well spent, right? Anyway, I've used this palette a few times now and I'm ready to give my thoughts.