Urban Decay - Get Baked Eye Kit

I love this little set. It reminds me of a sampler box of little chocolates. Get Baked is a small taste of some yummy things at a nice little $28 price.

Get Baked has 4 eyeshadows, a mini Sin UDPP, and a mini 24/7 liner in Bourbon.

The four shadows are Twice Baked, Half Baked, Flipside, and Baked. Bourbon 24/7 eyeliner is a shimmery brown that is a staple in my eyeliner collection.

Guerlain Summer Splash Palette

Yum! I want to eat this palette up with a spoon and rub it all over my face....um sorry about that, I was having a moment.

Seriously though Guerlain palette's make me soooo happy. They are pricey at $58 to be sure, but you get what you pay for in these babies.

The colors are pigmented and silky. They blend like a dream and the shimmer is sophisticated not disco ball.

Summer Splash starts off with a pearl white and pink and moves on to shimmering taupe and iridescent turquoise. Yummmmmm. I love turquoise and teal shadows during the summer. I can't get enough and paired with coral pink blush and gloss....oh the ecstasy!

MAC - Rose Is A Rose Quad

This delish quad is Nordstrom exclusive and from what my counter girls have told me is fairly limited. Even the San Francisco counter is getting fewer than 50 and that is a dang busy counter.

This quad is $36 bucks well spent in my opinion for Solar White alone. Solar White came out last year and is the most awesome white gold EVER! If only this color would join the permanent line I could stop rationing it out to myself.

The other shades are Seeds of Love and Petal Worship which are both quad only and Contrast the deep blue purple which is perm and is a favorite in my collection. I use Contrast as liner or to create a fab smokey eye.

Get your quad while you can!

Stila - Precious Pearl Palette

I have been trying very hard to be controlled about my makeup spending these days. There are two reasons and so far I have been doing pretty good but not great. Reason #1 is the economy in general and I think with things being so uncertain and companies laying people off or just plain going out of business it is wise to save more than I usually do. Reason #2 MAC Hello Kitty is coming out soon and I have been petrified that I will want every last piece of the collection which will be major cash!

So while I am trying hard to be better about my makeup shopping I can't help but cruise the cosmetics department or Sephora and gaze at the makeup gems. Perhaps you might say this is like taking an alcoholic to the corner bar but I just can't help it and I do have pretty good self control.

During my recent cruise of Sephora I remembered I had a Sephora gift card that had a $38 balance and this palette was a must have so my guilt was practically erased!

Stila's Precious Pearl Palette is not only gorgeous eyeshadow but the mother of pearl palette case is oh so pretty at $40. There are six shades that all have crushed pearl in them for a beautiful shimmery smooth application that is super pigmented and like all Stila shadows, easy to blend.

From left is a white gold, soft pink, mid-tone pink, blackened deep blue, mermaid green, and burnished gold.

This is worth breaking your piggy bank open for!

YSL Bow Collection

Here is one of my most recent purchases, YSL's Bow Collection eye quad.

I deliberated a long time on this one but finally caved when I also found the #16 Golden Gloss in stock at my local Bloomingdales from the same collection.

This palette is all about creating a smokey eye without grey or black and instead using purples, rosy grey tones. In a word, lovely!

This is not a new collection but if the latest looks hitting the spring runway say anything it is that a smokey eye done in alternate shades is here to stay.

This quad is $60 and is worth a look for the pigment and silky texture that is the hallmark of YSL shadow.

Bobbi Brown - Bright Eyes Palette

Oh good lord in heaven I thank you for Bobbi Brown and her makeup creations. I mean this dear blog reader and I hope you are with me on this one. BB rarely disappoints with her makeup offerings and lately she has just kept on getting better and more adventurous which is right up my alley.

Behold the new Bright Eyes palette which features 35 shades of bright soft matte shades of eyeshadow for $70. I found this at Neiman Marcus and had a little mini makeup happy attack when I spotted it. The palette was inspired by BB at fashion week and while the color is bright it is still very wearable which is mainly due to the lack of shimmer.

This would make a great gift for any makeup junkie you have on your list or a seriously fabulous stocking stuffer!

Givenchy Holiday 2008 Palette

What's up pussy cat! This Givenchy palette makes me think of a friend that rocks a brown smokey eye and has that certain kind of long hair that has volume and curl and screams take me to the bedroom now!

Seriously if I could have long hair like hers and rock the brown smokey eye I would grow my own hair out pronto and this palette would be a must purchase item!

As it is my own hair would be flat and lackluster at her length and I have to watch it with too much brown on the eye or I risk looking like I rolled in mud.

Ah well we can't have everything but this Givenchy palette for $53 makes me feel like I can have a little piece of my pal's come hither appeal! And of course you must go to Sephora, my house of worship, to get the goods.

Laura Mercier Eye Book

Laura Mercier's Eye Book is a Sephora exclusive and can be had for $45. I love palettes but like most people I am usually sorry I got them because only a few shades actually see any use and the rest are big 'ol waste of money. The Eye Book might just be an exception.

The Eye Book has 8 very wearable eyeshadows and a sensibly chosen black liner shadow. The double ended brush is great for applying the shadows and has a pointed end for lining.

The shades included range from great base shades to highlighters and on down to crease colors for day to night looks.

All in all a great palette for travel or everyday use!

MAC - Passions of Red

Here they are....MAC's annual holiday palettes. Between the packaging and the color choices this is a great collection and far better than they have been in the recent past. The most recent holiday sets in my memory were filled with hits and misses which left me passing on them altogether. These palettes are a vast improvement and are not only worth purchasing for your own collection but are very giftable.

There are 4 eye palettes and are pictured from left to right are classic, warm, smokey, and cool eyes. Warm and cool are especially lovely with cool having all exclusive eyeshadow colors. Smokey would be a great gift for someone who doesn't have a ton of MAC already.

The 3 lip palettes are coral, cool pink, and plum with plum being the clear winner and a favorite for me already.

All the palettes are $22.50 and come with a brush.

As I go to post this Obama is the projected new president of the USA. Whether you voted for him or not this is a historic and wonderful moment in our history. This is an election that you will tell your children and grandchildren about. After all this election proves that anybody can grow up and be our president which is a truly wonderful thing.

Too Faced Quickies

Here is Too Faced The Quickie Chronicles Mini Collection for $60 and may just be one of the best sets produced for the 10th anniversary. It is an unbelievable deal with 8 mini palettes that have products for eyes lips and cheeks.

Each palette has a Hollywood pinup girl on the cover and I think this is a great one to give as a extra special gift or to breakup and give as small gifts or stocking stuffers. The eight palettes included are:

The Temptress, The Plaything of Passion, The Cupcake, The Starlette, 10 Year Anniversay, The Sure Thing, The Beach Bunny and The Summer Lover.

The Cupcake is a pink treasure and The Temptress is all about plums. 10Year Anniversary is my favorite but really I love them all! It is very hard to give any of the them away.

The Balm Shady Lady Palette

Hello Shady Lady! I am in love with a shade from this palette and recommend that you stay far far away from it or else you are likely to get hooked yourself.

The shade is Jet Setting Jennifer (bottom left corner) and is described as a pale gold shimmer. This is mostly true but here's what they don't tell you. This gold is as far as my hunting has shown, unique. It is pale but doesn't veer into cream or white frosty territory. Instead it is a rich pale gold that looks gold and never yellow or white or cream.

I marched all over San Francisco with this color and went to every cosmetic counter and store I could including all of downtown Union Square and Union Street with the MAC Pro Store. I am here to tell you that I came close but there is not an exact dupe to be had. I am strongly considering sending this shade off to 3 Custom Color to see if they can duplicate it because it is a holy grail shade for me. I use it as a highlight and it blends just about any other shade out perfectly.

There are in fact 8 other colors in this palette but JSJ won my heart early and renders all the others nice but not JSJ! I know we all have certain shades that become obsessions and if they are discontinued you just want to cry your eyes out.

Well this palette is limited edition and $38 which is a great deal for 9 shadows that can be used wet or dry but its a bit much to keep buying for one color!

You can find my HG JSJ at Sephora but I warn you to proceed with caution.....that gold will get you, in a good way.

Lorac Multi-Platinum Palette

My favorite thing is a good bargain when is comes to makeup and palettes when they contain really good colors, are a fabulous bargain! I know I blog about palettes often but in truth I love them and buy a lot of them too. I have a Tupperware box that I have all my palettes arranged in and there are many more then I need but I really love the variety they offer.

Lorac's Multi-Platinum palette is a good one with many of the go to shades for fall incorporated like gunmetal grey, sapphire blue and a peachy blush to make you look healthy in the winter months.

Lorac shadows are soft and silky and blend beautifully and for $37 it is tough to turn down.

Nars "Best" Palette

This is by far one of the most usable palettes I have come across in quite some time. There just isn't a bad shade in the bunch.

Nars Best Palette is a Nordstrom exclusive and you get 6 eyeshadows for $50. I like Nars shadows in general and I have eyed many of the artist palettes in the past. I suppose I have never purchased one because there were always shades I couldn't imagine really getting any use out of with some I loved.

All About Eve, Bali, Kalahari and Bellisima are all in this palette and while this is definitely a neutral palette that borders on nudes it is wearable and not boring.

Laura Mercier - Custom Compacts

Ah, it appears another great brand is jumping on the band wagon and offering their eyedshadows in a custom palette format. I love it!

Laura Mercier currently only has a 3 pan palette for $10 available but I imagine that will change if they get a good response.

There are also 3 new shadow formulas to choose from. Lustre is a frost finish, Matte shadows are just that with lots of pigment, and Sateen is a soft satin finish and by far my favorite of the bunch.

There are many new colors to choose from with Gold Dust, Topaz, and Sandstone being a few of my picks.

I happen to love palettes that allow you to choose the shades that work best together for you, your lifestyle, or wardrobe and find that those are the palettes I actually use and refill. I also love to give a blank palette as a gift with a gift card for the amount needed to fill it. Any time I have given this gift to a friend I have never heard the end of it (in a good way) and how they loved picking their shades and not getting stuck with a palette they only used for one or two colors.

I think cosmetics companies are finally figuring this logic out and making it a bit easier on us consumers. I have been a long time fan and user of MAC's Pro Palettes and refill pans and have recently started replacing my Bobbi Brown shadows and blush colors in palette form as needed. The shadow pans are $22 which isn't chump change but if there are some basics or just some colors that you can't live without Laura Mercier shadows are fantastic quality and worth the splurge.

Bobbi Brown - Long Wear Eye Palettes

I must have been very good in a previous life. Nothing else can explain the appearance of the two marvelous beauties you see above. Truly these are a gift from the gods and should be scooped up immediately if not sooner!

Now these two palettes contain my two favorite BB products. The long wear cream eyeshadow and gel liner. BB may not have been the first to put these formulas out in the marketplace but she does them as well if not better than anyone.

BB's cream shadows are fabulous. They are available in both shimmer and matte finishes and indeed are long wearing and do not crease. Gel Liner is much the same. It lasts through an entire work day and even survives the gym looking better than it has any right to.

I can honestly say that they only other brand that rivals these two wonders is MAC with Fluidline and Paint Pots, but then again they are both Estee Lauder owned.

Anyway enough chit chat, lets talk about why you should be spending your hard earned cash on these two babies.

First of all these have limited edition shades of cream shadow and gel liner and they are good shades that belong in your makeup wardrobe.

• Moon Rock Palette on the right includes Gold Drop Long-Wear Cream Shadow, Mineral Dust Long-Wear Cream Shadow, Espresso Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner, Black Topaz Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner.
• Night Sky Palette on the left includes Rockstar Long-Wear Cream Shadow, Ocean Storm Long-Wear Cream Shadow, Black Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner, Thunder Storm Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner.

The palettes have handy lids that close over the pots so they won't dry out and a brush for application of the liner and shadow is included.

These are Nordstrom exclusive and limited. Happy shopping!

Bobbi Brown - Artist Palette for Lips

Look at that thing! I stumbled upon this gem of lipstick loveliness in Neiman Marcus this weekend and nearly squealed with joy.

This is no bargain palette at $200 big ones but if you are a major lipstick fan or a makeup artist building your kit this would be a great investment.

The palette contains 42 shades in three formulas including lip color that is semi-matte, creamy, and sheer as well as a retractable lip brush.

The lip colors included are very diverse and would suit everything from bridal looks to everyday pretty as well as deeper shades to create edgier lip colors. BB made sure to include most of her best selling shades and textures.

This can be found at Neiman Marcus exclusively for now.

Bobbi Brown - Shimmering Nudes Palette

Get ready to pony up $50 big ones because this palette is worth the cash! Nobody does nudes like BB and the quality of her line makes the price seem reasonable.

The nudes in this palette offer cool and warm tones to pick from but they are so forgiving and well, nude, that anyone can get away with any shade.

This palette features 6 nude shades that range from metallic to soft pearl finishes with Espresso on the right for lining. A double ended brush is included with bristles that are identical to the full size versions. This is important to me because lots of palettes get cheap when it comes to the brush, but not Bobbi!

While you are at the BB counter check out the new Metallic eyeshadows and lipstick colors. The Metallic lipsticks are truly a departure for BB and I love them. The lippies are metallic without being over the top frosty and are very wearable. These new editions to the BB line are very welcome in my book and just make this already great line even better.

Pop Beauty - Belle Palettes

Pop Beauty's creator Sara Strand wants makeup to be fun and edgy and I for one think she does a bang up job with Pop Beauty!

It took me awhile to really explore this line and honestly it was the intense color in this range that I loved but also was afraid wouldn't be easy to work with. I think I was skeptical that the Big Box Crayola colors wouldn't live up to my texture expectations.

Put simply, I was wrong. Pop Beauty's powders are silky and blendable and the palettes are huge for the price. I love playing with Pop Beauty at Sephora and you can also catch Sara Strand on QVC regularly.

The 3 palettes's in the Belle collection are all equally gorgeous and feature 8 huge pans for $28! Bronze Belle is all about bronzy shades that are gorgeous for summer and also bringing a little bit of summer to a fall face.
















Glow Belle is highlighter happiness! Normally you have to purchase a bunch of different products to get a range of illuminating powders but not so here. You get everything from creamy natural tones to pink and bronze glow for, you guessed it, $28! A bargain in my mind.


















Rose Belle is my personal favorite. I am a real sucker for pinks and this palette has everything from eyeshadow colors to blushes and highlighting shades too! What's not to love.

Stila Backstage Beauty Palette

Be quick my lovelies! This gorgeous Stila palette is online at Sephora and is limited and a Beauty Insider exclusive.

For $40 you get a metallic black liner and 3 shadows with shimmer and matte shades. The palette is the Front Row Look inspired by the Marchesa Fall 2008 runway shows.

From what I have heard there are supposed to be 2 more palettes that join this rose adorned beauty but this is the first I have seen to hit the Internet for purchase.

According to Sephora this will be an online only exclusive but that always remains to be seen.

Bobbi Brown Vintage Hues

Once again this weekend I was cruising the Neiman's in San Francisco and cursing that they have so many exclusives on makeup I am dying to have! Note to self, keep a blank check in wallet for all Neiman's trips as they only take AMEX.

While cruising I spotted the Bobbi Brown Vintage Hues Mauve palette and my breath caught, I felt a little weak in the knees. Approaching slowly, afraid it was a mirage, I gazed at the mauve toned palette with wonder. I was rudely snapped out of my revere by the SA offering help....I wanted to holler leave me alone with this gem and for heaven's sake don't call attention! I may get bum rushed when the other shoppers spot it.

I am here to tell you dear readers she gave me a LOOK and left....oh well, mission accomplished!

Vintage Hues features 3 eyeshadows, a huge blush and 3 lip colors that are all mauve based with the exception of Navajo eyeshadow which made it's debut in the Raspberry palette.

The eyeshadows are Navajo, Vintage and Chocolate Mauve. The large blush is Mauve and is like most BB blushes, super wearable. The lipcolors are Dusty Mauve Creamy Lip Color, Mauve Lip Sheer, and Vintage Mauve Lip Color.

The Mauve Palette is $55 and limited edition. These colors are gorgeous it's true but they are not what I would describe as summery. Instead this palette looks very fall and with so many companies releasing fall collections earlier this year this is no surprise.

At any rate I promise dear readers this one is worth traveling to check out. It is polished and lovely, what BB does best!