Thumbs Up Yesterday!

::TAKE TWO::

Hey guys!

It's Friday and this would have been posted yesterday but some unfortunate technical difficulties delayed post til today. 

I've given big thumbs up to some pretty awesome products this week. 

Here is a Le Métier De Beaute Kaleidescope eye shadow set in color Pretty in Punk. These retail for $95! Granted I am IN LOVE with these ultra pigmented shadows, my budget conscious self can not possibly fathom spending that amount of money on any singular item let alone a piece of makeup.

I was privileged to receive this in my Limited edition Neiman Marcus Popsugar box and am thrilled to get to try something so luxurious.  I looked around to find the names of these colors but nothing surfaced. The website does have different color combinations for the Kaleidescope set and you can find YouTube videos about how to apply the shadows to really take advantage of the multidimensional "Kaleidescope" effect.

http://www.lemetierdebeaute.com/ in case you'd like to check them out!

The shadows were swatched with primer. I love the density of these. The light beige-gold color on the left is now my favorite highlight and inner corner color. It has a hint of peachy to it and when applied lightly just gives a nice soft shimmer. The bright bold pinks in the middle are great for the outer lid and crease and blend really well together to create a beautiful ombré effect. This black shadow is something else. I have mixed feelings here. It is finicky but oh so fierce! I have learned that I must apply this shadow before ANY other makeup due to its fallout. Fallout that cannot be simply brushed away. Fallout that smears black streaks across your face anywhere it falls. Despite this downfall I LOVE this black. It is intense, sultry, bold, and smoky. When all necessary precautions are taken to avoid streaks this black makes an awesome outer V color. Once applied it DOES NOT BUDGE. At all. All day. Seriously.

Here I used scotch tape to create a sharp cat eye with the black shadow. I used the dark pink right above the black and blended with the light pink toward the crease. I smoked out the black shadow a bit and applied the beigey golden shimmer to the inner corner and brow bone. I took these photos after an 10 hour work day and you can see the shadows are still complete, no smudging under my eye. This color combination would be perfect for a Valentines look. 

I love these shadows and I find myself reaching for them daily. 

I have always loved wine hued nail polishes. Deep burgundies reminiscent of a bold glass of Merlot. I layered this deep berry cream color from Nails Inc. with a smokey sheer black with red shimmer polish from Julep. The combination of the 2 creates a rich full-bodied burgundy. 

I received the Nails Inc polish in a Glossybox and am a Julep Maven subscriber where I get a few new polishes each month.

Both of these boxes are great and they have really made it possible for me to try out awesome products. 

While organizing my Julep collection I stumbled upon these gems that I ordered on sale shortly after Halloween. I have never used crackle nail polishes before so I picked these up to try them out. 

I decided to layer them over a hot pink base to hopefully make the crackle pop!

I love how the texture came out after only a few swipes of the brush. The orange combination is perfect for a fun beachy summer look. I think I will paint my nails with either the black or the silver for valentines day, although the white would be awesome with a red heart painted on top! 

I love food! A big thumbs up for these herbed French bread pizza toasts. I took a loaf of rosemary olive oil French bread from Target and placed them under the broiler just until the edges began to brown. I slathered each toast with a roasted red pepper tapenade, laid a few thin slices of muenster cheese, and topped each with some pepperoni slices. Back under the broiler until the cheese is hot, bubbly, and brown around the edges. Holy yum! 

This is a delicious indulgence any time of the day!

My thumbs down this week is also somewhat food related.

I grew up drinking artificial sweeteners and Splenda was always the first choice for taste. The last few years I had found a new sweetener called Ideal. It is amazing. Simply sweet and very natural tasting, better than real sugar! One day a few weeks ago I ran out and kept putting off buying more. Honey to sweeten my coffee just wasn't cutting it and I really try to stay away from refined white sugar. I finally broke down and ran to the nearest store to get more sweetener. All they had was this bag of Splenda granules. I knew I previously likes Splenda so I picked it up. When I tried this in my espresso I nearly spit it out! It was disgusting! I used the same Splenda to sweeten iced tea and it tasted fine. I don't know if the acidic nature of the bold espresso I make caused the flavor to warp or what, but very time I add it to my coffee I want to gag. 

Thumbs down to Splenda sweetened espresso! 

Even though it is Friday, I was going to include these #TBT pictures in my post yesterday so I will still add them today!

My circle of friends at our highschool graduation.

Some more of us striking a pose on our way to project Graduation.

Good times!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

(albeit a day later)

Til next time,

Trish