I little while ago I was sent Annabelle's new Smokey Nudes Palette, which I instantly fell in love with.

I decided to do a look using it, which then of course escalated into an entire one brand look. Which is great since I love to pull out all my Annabelle goodies and create a look.

• Smokey Nudes Palette
• CC instant Perfecting Base in Natural Finish 
• Skin True Natural Lightweight Foundation in Natural Ivory
• CC Pressed Powder in Light/Medium (well loved as you can see by the amount I have hit pan on it)
• Twist Up in Breeze
• Blush in #44 Fawn Rose
• Brow Show Pencil in Light 
• Big Show Mascara in Black (not shown in photo)
• Smokey Nudes Palette

There isn't much to say about my look. I used the CC base as a primer on both my face and eye area. Overall it is a light look with just the right amount of nude shadows for the day. I also am loving the new Brow Show pencil,  which I will talk about in another post (but man am I loving it).
I can't really say what I did with the palette since I winged it so much. pretty much the nude shade all over, some gold shade in the inner and browns on the rest. I also defined my crease a bit and used the darkest two shades to line my upper and lower lids.
On to the review part.

I really liked this palette. The colours are pretty darn creamy and blend really well.  I found the first shade (the matte one) a tad bit had to swatch, but applied really well on my lids. In fact I think the first 4 shades, didn't swatch well at all, but were unexpectedly amazing on my skin. The gold might be my favourite. I think they didn't swatch so well because they are similar to my skin tone.
 I like the range of gold, bronze, brown and even black in the palette, as well as warm and cool tones making it quite versatile.
 The only negative thing I can say is that I wish the black didn't have sparkles in it and was a true matte. But even that is a minor thing not to like.

Pros:

• Inexpensive - retails for $12.95
• Easy to find - It is sold at mass retailers 
• Great colours - great selection in it for all skin tones
• Creamy Shadows that blend well -isn't that we are all looking for?
• Sleek case - the palette is a nice size , which makes it easy to carry or store (smaller then the Maybelline The Nudes and only .02 oz off in size).

Cons:

• Not a lot of matte shades 

Overall:
This is a great nude or smokey palette for just about anyone. With 10 shades it can be quite versatile due to its range in shades and textures.
It blends well and lasts all day with no issues. I really like the darkest two shades for lining.
I really am quite impressed with this one.


*This product was sent to me for review, all opinions are my own.

Time again for another FOTD, this time it's with just L'oreal Paris Canada products.

I love my L'oreal True Match Lumi Foundation, love it. This time I am pairing it up with the Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer for a glowy look. Visible Lift Blur Concealer with the  Infallible Pro-Matte Powder are rounding out the face part of the look. Giving me a glow, but not a shiny look.
 Infallible Pro-Matte Finish Powder in 100 Porcelain

Lips:
Infallible Lipstick in 111 Passionate Petal
So that is about it for the look. I am really happy at how flawless it all turned out. The eyeshadow primer is definitely one of the best I have tried in a very long time, it makes the rose toned quad stay all day and blend like a dream.
I had heard some mixed things about the Infallible lipstick, but I must say I found it stayed all day and once the moisturizing top coat was applied I had no complaints about my lips being dry. Don't get me wrong, they felt like pretty darn dry until that top coat went on, but once it was on, it they felt just fine, and for the rest of the day.

Here are a few more shots of the overall look of the day.

Getting my makeup done quick and easily in the mornings can sometimes be a challenge. Even worse is the times when you want to go out, look a little bit more done up and don't have the time. Well right here I am going to show you a look that takes no time at all, is bronzy and slightly glittery and chalked full of drug store makeup.
First let me explain why this is such a quick look...the Annabelle Roll-on Eyeshadow + Liner in Hazel...that's why. One side has a roll on glittery bronze shadow the other a glittery bronze liner. They fit in your bag easily so you can go from work to night easy and quick. I just like to put a glitter primer under it first.  After that it is smooth sailing.

Product used:

• Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup in Light 
• Almay Smart Shade Powder Bronzer in Sunkissed
• Almay Smart Shade Concealer in light
• Annabelle Eyeshadow + Liner in Hazel
• Annabelle TwistUp in Nude of Fame
• Annabelle Skinny Brow Liner in Universal Light
• Annabelle Expandible Mascara
• Makeup Forever HD Powder
• ELF Glitter Primer
• Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude

How I did it:

Primed my eyes with the ELF Glitter Primer by patting it all over the lids. Rolled on the Eyeshadow half of the Annabelle Hazel. Took a fluffy brush and blended just the edges of the shadow. Took the liner side and drew on some wings.
I then took the Almay Smart Shade foundation and applied it randomly to the skin. Taking a short stipple brush (like Mac 130) I blend it out. I really like this foundation for quick makeup because it always matches me perfectly. They say it isn't just shade adjusting but also tone adjusting which is great for me since I can be pretty neutral in the tone department, making buying two foundations a common occurrence. Oh and it always looks really good on my skin. I then touch up areas with Almay Smart Shade Concealer where needed followed by the MUFE HD powder to set it all.
Now I love a good bronzy look, but bronzer and me are not friends...see I don't tan so there is really no shade that really looks right on me (cause I don't that, I'm not explaining this very well. I burn, burnt isn't a shade of bronzer, nor does it look good...oh forget it) so I like using it as a blush sometimes.I took Almay Smart Shade Bronzer and used it on my cheeks like blush and used any excess too buff out on my skin to attempt a bit of a bronzy look.
I filled in my brows with the Annabelle liner and coated my lashes with the mascara. I lined my water line with my absolute favourite nude liner by Rimmel. Applied the Annabelle TwistUp and was done. Twistups are fantastic because they are liner and lipstick on one, leading to easier application and a precision look on the go ( I guess that is why I now own 29 of them).
There that was quick and easy.  A little glitzy but not over the top...an easy way to get from day to night in no time flat.

Since it is November, I thought I would do a bunch of nude/naked/neutral looks (Neutral November as I am calling it). First off for the month is a favourite of mine, a  look I created only using L'oreal Paris products.

• Visible Lift Blur in 209 True Beige *
• Color Riche Fixing and Unfying Eyeshadow Primer *
• Colour Riche in 203 Perpetual Nude *
• 12HR Infallible The Super * Slim Liquid Eyeliner in Black
• Super Liner Brow Artist in 03 Brunette *
• Volune Millions Lashes Excess in Black *
• Nude Couture Lipstick in Frieda *
• Visible Lift CC Eye Concealer in Light *
• True Match Crayon Concealer in n1-2-3 Fair/Light

I love all these affordable drug store items and I love how they all just work, and work well at that. The star of this look is the Coluor Riche quad in Perpetual Nude. Rich, creamy, bendable and just plain old fantastic. I just cannot get enough of it.
The foundation is also a favourite of mine. It is light and creamy, plus it blends well. Since mine is in more my summer colour and therefor a tad bit dark for this time of year I really needed to blend it out, I used my Real Techniques sponge and had no issues whatsoever. To conceal I used around my eyes the CC eye roller by Visible lift and around my noise (where I get hormonal redness) I used my True Match crayon. I didn't end up needed much of the concealers, just a bit because of the great coverage from the foundation. I also didn't need powder, which is great since my skin gets so dry this time of year.
For my lips I used Freida Pinto's Nude lipstick. While she is a much darker skin tone than me, this slightly mauvy shade looks great with this quad and is the perfect lip colour for the fall this year.
* denotes items were sent to me for review. My opinions are still all my own.

With this year marking the twentieth anniversary of the release of the film, we decided to commemorate the occasion the UD way—with an ultra limited-edition “PULP FICTION” collaboration. Our inspiration? None other than the cool (and completely badass) Mrs. Mia Wallace. -urbandecay.com

Recreate Mrs. Mia Wallace’s dark, edgy look with this palette from our ultra limited-edition “PULP FICTION” collection. This collection has everything you need to recreate Mia’s dark, edgy look from the film, including this limited-edition palette. It contains five shades of Eyeshadow (three are brand new!). -urbandecay.com

Recreate Mrs. Mia Wallace’s dark, edgy look with this creamy, badass, blood-red Revolution Lipstick, part of our ultra limited-edition “PULP FICTION” collection. Like every shade of Revolution Lipstick, this shade features our Pigment Infusion System for insane color payoff with creamy shine. This shade comes in a limited-edition, jet-black version of our lipstick case.  -urbandecay.com

First off I love the black packaging. Such a silly thing to love, I know, but it has waves and ridges and is slightly heavy and black, it just screams "take me home". Then inside is a very luxurious blood red lipstick that beacons to be worn. If you can't tell I like this lipstick, and guess what it likes me. It is just the perfect shade of red for my skin tone.

Mrs. Mia Wallace Revolution Lipstick

It goes on smooth and looks divine on, but I would recommend using a lip brush, the shade of it in the tube is just too clumsy for direct application (or at least in my case).

 What I did:
I put on a base of the Skin True foundation and while it settled into my skin a bit I applied the eyeshadow quad.

I put the lightest shade in my inner corners and below my brow bone. I followed with the next lightest shade all over my eye lid area . In my outer V area and my crease I ran a bit of the next shade along it and blended it out (this is the left bottom shade). I then lined my upper and lower eyelids with Grapejuice kohl liner and then smudged some of the darkest shade over that for a softened effect. I followed with some more of the second shade along my lower lash line.

I used the Smoothie fat pencil in Grapeful in my lower waterline for a bigger pop of purple.

Finally I used the brow marker and gel on my brows, Expandable mascara on my top lashes and Psychedelic  (purple ) mascara on my bottom lashes.

I powdered met face all over with the CC powder, then bronzed and blushed. Then applied the Fuchsianista TwistUp.


*Denotes this product was sent to me for consideration. All views are my own and honest.