Review: Urban Decay Naked on the Run

Review: Urban Decay Naked on the Run 

If you are a big fan of Urban Decay and their Naked palettes, then you will definitely be a fan of their limited edition Naked on the Run. The Naked on the Run palette contains:

-Deluxe sized Perversion mascara

-Deluxe sized 24/7 Glide On Pencil (shade: stag)

-Full sized Naked lip gloss (shade: sesso)

-Six eyeshadows: dive, fix, resist, dare, stun, and 5050

-Bronzer (no shade name)

-Blush (no shade name)

At a first glance these may look like colors you may already have if you own the Naked 1, 2, or 3 palette, but they are brand new and never released shades. I currently own the Naked 1 and previously owned the Naked 2 and 3 and these are colors I have not seen before.

The perversion mascara is not my favorite mascara. I have not opened the one in the palette but I tried a sample from Ipsy and it was runny and smudged after a few hours of wear. The eyeliner (stag) and lip gloss (sesso) are great quality and I will continue to use them.

Now to the swatches! Here are the swatches with the names of the eyeshadows on the right below. These swatches are applied on my arm without primer, have great color payoff, but have fallout. I have seen a lot of fallout with other Urban Decay eyeshadows but a good primer will keep them set on your eyelid.

Urban Decay’s Naked on the Run is $54 and is sold at Sephora, Ulta, and UrbanDecay.com. This will only be out for a limited time, so get it when you can!

What are you thoughts? I would love to see what you think in the comments.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ready, Set, Spending Ban!

Happy New Year! Today is officially the first day of my “100 Day Spending Ban.” Last night I made my final purchases from Ulta and Sephora, which consisted of two Physician’s Formula blushes (rose and natural) and a Stila three-piece set (convertible blush, eyeliner, and lip gloss). My “100 Day Spending Ban” will end on April 10, 2015 and right now it seems like forever from now! In addition to my makeup ban, I am not going to buy any skincare, hair, or bath products until I finish two bottles or packages. This year is all about cutting down on spending, cutting down on clutter in my bathroom, and actually using up some products. I will admit that I have way too many makeup products that are unopened or opened and never used. I also went shopping for makeup when I was stressed out and used it as a reward for achieving accomplishments in school.

In order to help ease the anxiety of the spending ban I am going to blog more often (reviewing products, swatches, and showing progress on what I am using), unsubscribing from all emails from Sephora, Ulta, and makeup brands, and giving away my Ulta coupons that I receive in the mail. I would also like to extend a special thank you to two lovely ladies on Instagram for giving me ideas to do during the spending ban! One gave me the idea of writing everything down in a wish list to see how much money I saved during the 100 day period and the other gave me the idea of saving some new and unopened products to open every 20 days, so it feels like its brand new. Please leave a comment below if you gave me that idea!

This spending ban will be difficult but I need it! My main motivations are saving money for travel in 2015 or 2016, and to save for my LSAT (law school admissions test) class in the summer. If you want to join me, let me know! We will have strength in numbers! If you have any beauty projects you are starting today or within the next month, leave your ideas in the comments below. I love to see what others are doing.

Have a wonderful first day of the year! Best wishes for 2015.

Money Saving Tips

Are you on a budget?

Do you love getting a good deal on products?

Are you willing to search for sales?
If you answered yes to any of the above, keep reading this post about money saving tips when buying makeup!

On my Instagram, you have probably noticed that I am a full time graduate student working a part time job until I graduate in May… that means I have moments where I am on a tight budget! Nothing sounds better to me than the word “SALE” or “CLEARANCE” and now I am going to share my tips with you.

Ulta:

If you want a good deal on drugstore and Ulta brands, watch out for their “buy one get one half off” sales, which rotate amongst different brands weekly. You can use their “$3.50 off $10” coupons on all drugstore and Ulta products. Periodically they have “$5 off $15” coupons and “20% off”, but these cannot be used on prestige brands.

If you want a good deal on a prestige brand, wait for their “20% off everything” coupons. The “20% off everything” coupons come out two to three times a year in your email or sent to your mailing address.

Sephora:

Sephora rarely has sales but they are worth the wait. If you are a VIB or VIB Rouge you will have access to sales throughout the year, such as the recent VIB sale in November. If an item is limited edition and not selling well, it will go to clearance. Clearance sections in store are at the end caps of shelves and online in the sale section. I have noticed that there are more sale sections in Sephoras in JC Penny compared to a stand-alone Sephora store.
There are also “friends and family” sales where sales associates give out 20% coupons, be on the look out for those too!

CVS:

Similar to Ulta, CVS has weekly “buy one get one half off” sales rotating through their different brands. If you shop at CVS often I suggest that you sign up for a CVS Extra Care card. With a CVS card you can earn $5 for every $50 you spend on beauty (haircare, skincare, makeup) and you can score “Extra Care Bucks” for spending a certain amount on certain brands. For example: Spend $10 on Maybelline products and earn $3 in Extra Care Bucks. I have made multiple purchases at CVS where I paid less than $1 after saving manufacturer’s coupons and Extra Care Bucks.

Nordstrom Rack:

Nordstrom Rack is the discount branch of Nordstrom so you will see a lot of high-end makeup brands ranging from 50% to 70% off the retail price. I have seen Too Faced, Lorac, Urban Decay, and Stila at Nordstrom Rack. The products will most likely be a season old or limited edition products but they are worth the price! In September I bought the Too Faced Bonjour Soleil bronzer palette for $16.99 compared to the Sephora price of $44.00.

HauteLook:

HauteLook is a website that offers clothing, accessories, and makeup at discount prices. Different deals come out every Monday and you can sign up for alerts for specific brands. I bought products from The Balm on HauteLook and other brands such as BH Cosmetics, Stila, and Lorac have been featured on the site as well.

Do you have any money saving tips? Share them in the comments below!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!

Review: Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette

Today I will be reviewing the newest Tarte palette called “Tartelette” which is an all matte palette containing neutral, everyday colors that would look great on everyone. Tartelette contains twelve eyeshadow pans that are each 0.053 oz. Just like all Tarte products, this palette does not contain parabens or mineral oil. It is dermatologist tested and contains their famous Amazonian clay ingredients that they are known for. According to Tarte, the twelve colors are “inspired by real women just like you” with names such as “dreamer”, “best friend”, and “super mom”.

The eyeshadows feel buttery and soft, and the colors can be built up with each swipe. None of the eyeshadows felt gritty and they did not have fallout. Out of all twelve eyeshadows the only issues with pigment were Multi Tasker and Bombshell. Multi Tasker and Bombshell applied a little patchy but with eyeshadow primer they should be fine. I personally use Too Faced Shadow Insurance and it really helps with blending and the longevity of my eyeshadows throughout the day. This palette is a must have for neutral lovers, fellow Tartelettes, and anyone who prefers mattes. this.

Below are photos of the palette and swatches without primer. For reference my MAC shade is NC35, Urban Decay Naked Skin shade is 6, and Tarte Amazonian Clay foundation is tan honey.

Row 1:

Free Spirit

Force of Nature

Dreamer

Multi Tasker

Row 2:

Caregiver

Natural Beauty

Best Friend

Bombshell

 Row 3:

Super Mom

Wanderer

Power Player

Fashionista

This palette is currently only sold at Sephora and Sephora.com, but will be available on Tarte’s website and possibly in other cosmetics stores in January 2015. The cost is $44.00 USD.

Will you be picking this up at Sephora? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Why a “spending ban”?

I am happy to be back on the blog and I will be blogging more often because I do not have classes again until the third week of January!

If you have been following me on my Instagram account lately, you would have seen posts about doing a “100 Day Spending Ban.” I am sure your big question is “Why?” Why am I going to stop indulging in my makeup addiction by not stepping foot in a Sephora or Ulta for a little over three months? I simply realized that I have so much makeup that I will probably take years and years to even finish. As it gets closer to January 1, 2015 I am going to do an inventory so I can keep track of how many of each makeup product I own and do another inventory after 100 days. I admit, this will be slightly embarrassing admitting how many unused lipsticks I have or how many Sephora samples I am hoarding in plastic boxes. This blog is here to create accountability and to gather support from lovely readers like you! I have been studying government for 6 years, so accountability is one of my most commonly used words! ;)

What kinds of rules am I going to set?

First off, I will not buy any makeup products for the entire 100 day period. I have enough “back ups” (extra makeup) in my makeup collection so I will have no excuse to buy anything that I deem as a necessity.

Secondly, I will try to finish as many products that I can which will most likely be products such as foundation primer, foundation samples, mascara, and anything that can reasonably be finished in 100 days.

Third, I have already unsubscribed from all makeup emails. I will give away my Ulta coupons I receive in the mail to friends and to fellow beauty bloggers on Instagram. Not looking at emails and catalogs will help me avoid temptation of having to try that new “must have” product.

Fourth, I will make a list of everything I want to buy in order to see how much money I am saving from not buying it. I will update that list every other week with the costs and list a grand total every month. Thanks to @boltblogsbeauty for this idea!

Lastly, I will be cutting back on buying bath, hair, and skincare products because I am overflowing with products in my bathroom. I will only buy shampoo/conditioner/body wash when I finish an entire bottle. The same rule will apply to skincare and hair care.

Any suggestions for rules? I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments.

Have a wonderful night!

-Kristie

Follow my blog with Bloglovin and on Instagram @kristiebeauty

Welcome To My Blog!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my makeup and beauty blog. My name is Kristie and I am a twenty four year old graduate student living in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Ever since I was a pre-teen, makeup always intrigued me. It was not until my senior year of college when I really got into makeup brands, skincare routines, and overall beauty. Before I began my makeup collection, I had a small makeup bag from Victoria’s Secret with a couple of MAC eyeshadows, a MAC mascara, a MAC eyeliner, a MAC lipgloss, and Neutrogena foundation (I can credit my Mom for introducing me to MAC! ) I told myself that I only needed enough makeup to fill up that small makeup bag.

One summer before leaving for college, I stopped by an Ulta and decided to try out a new foundation. Upon entering Ulta, I was quickly overwhelmed by all the makeup brands, skincare, and hair products. I immediately walked to Bare Minerals because they were selling “try it” kits. After using Bare Minerals, my eyes were opened to all the wonderful makeup brands in the shelves at Ulta and later Sephora.

Now I can say I am a full blown makeup junkie, but I am starting this blog to downsize my collection because I got too caught up in the glitz and glamour of buying new makeup every month. I was inspiring by a couple of girls on Instagram to do a “100 Day Spending Ban.” My spending ban will officially start on January 1, 2015.

Stay tuned to see what rules I set for myself!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin and on Instagram @kristiebeauty

-Kristie