'Tis the Season for Limited Editions

'Tis the season for limited editions. Christmas is my favorite holiday in some respects and in the same respect my least favorites season. Con = all the shopping for gifts stress. Pro = all the shopping; LIMITED EDITION makeup value sets, palettes, colors, and so, so many deals. 

Some of the limited editions will never return and some will return next Christmas season. Some will continue after the Christmas season but not at the great holiday prices. Overall limited edition value sets are my absolute favorite thing about the Christmas season. I can't stand how cute the sample size items in the Sephora Favorites holiday sets are and all the amazing packaging. I would have loved to have a Benefit Cosmetics advent calendar as a pre/teen. I didn't even know they existed until this year and I am obsessed. So enough about me lets get into the good stuff. I'm going to let you in on all the best holiday limited edition products, sets, and gifts. These items need to publicized or I know tons of you are going to be upset when you see them on Pinterest later only to find out that they aren't in rotation anymore. 

Best Limited Edition Color Palettes: 

1. Bobbi Brown's Warm Glow Palette, $75 - absolutely my #1 x-mas list item! Gorgeous and I do mean gorgeous faux crocodile case. If I miss out on this I will not forgive myself. A little pricey for but definitely worth it. Not really crazy, $$, for Bobbi.

Bronzes, Roses, and Warm Browns. Absolutely Gorgina!

2.  Bobbi Brown's Warm Eye Palette, $48.50- Six beautiful warm shades and a BB dual-ended brush. The brush alone would usually cost you $45. This is a Limited Edition steal and best!

Warm Eye Palette with dual-ended brush!

3. Bobbi Brown Deluxe Lip & Eye, $80- 8 shadows, 8 lip colors, and a mini brush for each. The eye shadows mini versions of the shades from the Warm Glow and Warm palette. If you don't use eyeshadow everyday or don't use a specific palette too often this is the right choice for you. You get the Warm/Glow shades, 2 brushes, and the bonus 8 complimentary lip shades for $5 more than the Warm Glow palette. 

Perfect for your holiday party clutch! 

(OK, let's get away from Bobbi Brown but I do have to give her Surf and Sand line a shout out, gorgeous, not holiday and not really a deal but Limited Edition nonetheless and worth taking a look at before it's gone.)


LE Gifts for your FAVORITE people, ONLY! Otherwise keep it for yourself! 

1.  Urban Decay Naked on the Run, $54- This is a must for a bestie, mom, sister (you) that never has the time to go home before going out after work! Gorgeous and truly everything you need to touch-up for a great price! It is UD.

Bronzer, blush, highlighter, 5 Naked Shadows, liner, lip gloss, and mascara

 2. Tarte Kiss & Belle LipSurgence Lip Set, $34- 8 deluxe sample lip products that can easily be split up and used as stocking stuffers. Great deal, shades, and versatility! I plan on dropping 2 into each stocking and still having 2 left over for myself!

$4.25/product! You cannot get any better than that!

3. Tarte Bon Voyage Collector's Set and Travel Bag, $59- This is a perfect gift or multiple gifts. You can split this up in so many ways or give it whole. It's such an amazing deal. That many shadows by Tarte would usually cost $70 alone. 

Super deluxe sample and full sizes!

4. Benefit Cosmetics Advent Calendar, $99- This is perfect for a family of girls. Each day is a little beautiful and exciting gift. You can also get this and split the 25 items to make small gifts for your friends or anyone in your life.

Each little window opens from Dec 1 to Dec 30...

...reveal all of this!

  Honorable Mention: There are a ton of Limited Edition holiday sets and singles that you should absolutely look at but Nars, Too Faced, and BareMinerals all deserve a specific shout-out. They have done it up completely right; packaging, price, and amount = amazing! I'm just giving you a little taste of the greatness, go to Sephora.com and search "Limited Edition" to see it all! I have many many many times and cannot wait to start buying these LE's all up! Remember the whole point is that they will not be around for long...

Custom Origins Modern Friction

Lately, I've really been into trying to make the best organic homemade facial masks, cleansers, and scrubs. I went to Florida during the summer and used a Banana Boat sunscreen on my skin that either clog my pores and caused the onset of a major breakout on both cheeks or the two just happened to coincide. Either way, I've been dealing this breakout since August. It finally started to really clear up when I started using Proactive again but I realized that my complexion was dull and gray. I would rather have a bad complexion then the breakout, of course, but I wanted to deal with both without causing pimples, blackheads, and whiteheads to start reappearing. I continued with the Proactive but start looking online for the best ways to treat acne, dryness, brighten, and increase the healthy look of my complexion using a bought product or something homemade. Whichever truly seemed to fit my issue. I did hours and hours of research from day to day. I finally went to the store and got Modern Friction by Origins. It worked well but I had all this info rolling around in my mind like 'lemon brightens,' 'honey kills acne bacteria and reduces irritation,' 'oatmeal soothes.' So I took a look at the ingredients in Modern Friction. The main ingredient was Rice Starch. I did research and read good things concerning Rice Starch or Flour and skin. The next ingredient was lemon. Brightener. So I decided I would try to concoct a better (for me) version of Modern Friction. I needed Rice Starch but I also wanted the granule feeling so I opted for freshly and coarsely ground Rice Flour. I took organic basmati brown rice and poured it into very clean very high-tech home food processor. Did almost nothing. I was disappointed to say the least. I looked around the kitchen and finally came across my coffee grinder. AH-HAH! I knew this would do the trick and it did. I ground all the rice I had in the food processor into a coarse Rice Flour and ziploc bagged it. The next ingredient was lemon or more specifically Lemon Oil. I didn't have any lemon oil so I grabbed a lemon and started removing the zest. I put about a teaspoon of zest aside and decided that adding half a tablespoon of lemon juice to my version of Modern Friction could only help. I squeezed out that amount and moved on to the cream/wash base. This was difficult. I didn't want to use a cream because they cant be washed off and I didn't want to use a soap or face wash because the only one I knew worked was Proactive and that didn't seem like a safe mix. I thought about it and remembered that coconut oil was known for killing bacteria and fungus. Whipped coconut oil has the consistency of cream, I got out my hand beater and coconut oil. I scooped half a cup into a bowl and started frothing it up. The result was a nice cream. I thought back to all my reading and decided that I'd add freshly ground green tea for rejuvenation and firmness. I got out my Harry and David loose green tea leaves and poured 1/2 a tablespoon into the coffee grinder. The result was a very fine powder. I decided I was ready to start mixing things together. From my experience with cooking I realized the best way to mix things was leave the coconut whip aside and mix the rice flour, lemon zest/juice, and green tea in a separate bowl to get a real idea of the odor and consistency sans whip. I added 2 tablespoons of rice flour, first. Then the lemon juice and mixed them together slowly but thoroughly creating a paste. I added the lemon zest next. I folded it in and took a whiff. It smelled, at this point, very very much like Modern Friction. I was pleasantly surprised. I took a piece of cheese cloth pour the ground green tea into it and bundled it to sprinkle the green tea in very slowly; in a sifter fashion. I mixed it in each time the top was covered with a light layer of green speckles. I did this 3 times. I didn't use all of it. I probably used about 1/4 of a teaspoon. Then I took a whiff and crumbled a bit of the paste in between my fingers. The green tea did not affect the previous smell and the texture was coarse but soft enough for facial skin. Exfoliating texture. I dumped the mixture into the whipped coconut oil and started slowly combing. I took a whiff and crumbled again. Smell, check. Texture, not good. I grabbed the bag of rice flour and added an extra tablespoon to get the mixture back to a texture that would easily exfoliate my skin. The extra flour did the trick and adding it in dry at the end seemed to make a difference, how I'm not sure but I did an experiment starting with 3 tablespoons of paste and the results are not the same. You have to add the dry flour at the end. I scooped the mixture into a boiled short mason jar and put the lid on. My house runs a little warm so I decided to keep it in the fridge but it's unnecessary if your home is consistently cool or room temp. I washed my face with the mix and was extremely pleased. My face immediately looked more vibrant and I didn't feel dry from the cold like I had been feeling for the last few weeks. Both my boyfriend and his mother commented on how nice my skin looked that evening, 6 hours later. This is a great, cheap, and organic version of Origins Modern Friction. It is amazing as a weekly scrub. I am working on a daily version without the coconut oil. The coconut oil seems like a little too much for a daily scrub. I have purchased Xanthum Gum to try and make an organic gel version of Modern Friction for daily use. Any ideas on cream/wash bases I can use otherwise? 

Finished Scrub- My More Modern Friction

Whipped Coconut Oil, rice and oatmeal flour. The oatmeal flour is for a new concoction. I didn't use it here, just went grinder crazy. 

Another Steal of a Deal

I know I was supposed to do a series on the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual but it's been much harder to find info about Bronzer colors than I thought it would be, especially by her list of recommendations. Truly, a poorly done general list.

So until I find something that is helpful to us I'm going to be looking at the Spring going into Summer deals.

Lets get our shopping started...

A Steal of a Deal: Deluxe Samples

Right now at Sephora if you purchase $25, which is like 1 good product, you get 3 deluxe samples for free along with the standard 3 mini samples. I have been interested in Benefit Cosmetics Fake Up concealer, for awhile, but didn't want to get it for $24.00. I got a deluxe sample of Fake-up (light or medium avl.), bareMinerals Skinny Dip Bronzer, and Philosophy's A to Z BB cream. That's a pretty great score! I bought Benefit Cosmetics Go TropiCORAL kit as my $25 purchase; a great deal on its own. The deluxe samples are worth $30. Ulta sells it's deluxe samples for anywhere between $7-$10. I've never seen Fake Up, Skinny Dip, or A to Z BB cream. I've seen the deluxe sample Fake Up in a kit that costs $28. I got the 3 free-with-every-purchase mini samples (pic below), as well. So I really got $21-$30 of deluxe samples, $15 of minis, and a $28 Benefit kit all for $35.99 with S&H and tax included; a definite steal! They were in my colors and products I'd looked into buying before. 

Just FYI the mini samples options were great I choose Urban Decay Eye Primer Potion, Becca Bronzing Skin Perfector, & Make Up For Ever HD Press Powder. All things I've been wanting to try, as well. 

Deluxe Samples to Choose From:

Alterna- bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Dry Oil Mist 

Urban Decay- All Nighter Setting Spray

Benefit Cosmetics- Fake Up Concealer in Light & Medium 

Prada- Infusion d'Iris Eau de Parfum  Rollerball 

bareMinerals- Ready Bronzer in The Skinny Dip (for light to medium) 

Philosophy- Miracle Worker Overnight

First Aid Beauty- skin Rescue Deep Cleanser w/ Red Clay

Jack Black- Industrial Strength Hand Healer  

Dr. Brandt Skincare- Xtend Your Youth Dual Fusion Water 

And more... I can't see them because I already used my PACKUP promo. 

Deluxe Samples w/ Promo Code: PACKUP (w/ free Beauty Insider Card and $25 purchase) 

3 free Mini samples with every purchase. 

Breakdown of Steal Deal: 

Benefit Kit- $28.00

Deluxe Samples- $30.00 (if I bought)

Mini Samples- $15.00

Total: $73.00

Total Paid: $35.99 

Savings: 37.01

Bobbi Brown, but what shade?

So I'm going to continue my look into recommendations for skin tones. As far as my research goes Bobbi Brown's recommendations are the status quo. I haven't really found an opposing opinion, so I feel safe researching her color guides and find out what brands have a shade that goes with each, some, or none of the listed recommendations for skin tone type. I'm going to list them all below as a guide, and then work on breaking each of those down starting with Bronzer in Monday's post. We all know, by now, that Sunday's are for Tutorials. 

Bronzer Recommendations:

Alabaster (Gwyneth Paltrow)- Pink shimmer or peachy 
Light (Drew Barrymore)- Biegy brown with a bit of pink 
Medium (Sienna Miller)- Brownish pink with a bit of orange or warmth 
Medium-Dark (Jennifer Lopez)- Brownish orange 
Dark (Vanessa Williams)- Brownish Red 
Deep (Venus Williams)- Brownish blue 

Shades to Use by Natural Lip Color:

Pale Lips- beige, sandy pink, light coral, pale pink, & bright red 

Medium Lips- brown, rose, pink, orange, warm red

Dark Lips- brown, deep red, plum, deep chocolate, and deep raisin/berries

Two-Toned Lips- chocolate, blackberry, deep plum, deep raisin, deep red

Each natural lip color and shade has a colored box around it in the book to show what equals pale, medium, & etc and what equals each color; brown, rose, pink, & etc. I'm including an image of the guide and a palette of all the shades kept in her Pro kit. Both will give you an idea of what's meant by the colors and types listed. 

They only give us a very slight idea though and she doesn't really talk about undertone. 

Corrector Recommendations: 

Alabaster to medium (as exampled above)- pink 

Medium-dark to Dark- peach 

Deep- darker peach 

Any blush color seems to due as long as the formula is correct for your skin type; dry, combo, oily. Foundation on the other had has a very detailed selection process and is not defined even vaguely based on  skin tone, that seemed odd considering but maybe it was too complicated to even attempt charting it out. The only chart I found for this had to do with the color of your veins to determine wether or not your foundation should have a cool, neutral, warm, or a combination of those undertones. Foundation color and skin undertone is so important we'll be giving that it's own series. This series will focus on bronzer and lips, mainly, and slightly on corrector unless we find that it needs a deeper look but I haven't gotten that far in my research. I do know that corrector a come in yellow, purple, blue, and pink. Brown does not mention any but pink so corrector may need a deeper look because Brown only looks at under-eye corrector and gives no indication that she acknowledges the useful correcting palettes for face use. 

Bobbi Brown's Recommended Shades

I've had the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual and she lists all of the recommendations for skin, lip, eye color and what type of colors you should use. For example, if you have Alabaster Skin you should use Bronzer that a pink skimmer or peach and if you have Medium tone skin you should buy Bronzer that is brownish pink with a little bit of orange or warmth. The only problem is you cannot, and I really mean, cannot find out what tone a bronzer has or undertone. Not even Bobbi Brown's own make-up line lists which color is which. You'd think since she wrote the manual she'd make sure to describe her products accordingly. In the book she lists 6 skin types and on her website she has 7 bronzers but one is new. So I am only assuming that she had one for each skin type. Too bad she didn't let us in on which one is which. I they get you buy more that way although her products are sold at stores at will exchange and you can test. If you're shopping online, though, it'd be nice to know. The one nice thing about shopping at www.BobbiBrown.com is that you can speak with a make-up artist from 10am to 10pm everyday except Sunday, until 7pm. So I asked which Bronzer went with my "medium" skin tone. She said the medium. That it had a "warm brownish/pink hue." I'd guessed that medium would probably be my match but on the website medium is described as "a medium brown." The site doesn't even say "a warm medium brown." I would have been more confident in deducted skills had she just added that one word. Also, I was just sort of pissed off because Bobbi Brown literally wrote a book on it, has her own make-up line, and could easily make sure to describe the color as she does in the book.

Bobbi Brown's Recommendations for Bronzer by Skin Type:
Alabaster (Gwyneth Paltrow)- Pink shimmer or peachy
Light (Drew Barrymore)- Biegy brown with a bit of pink
Medium (Sienna Miller)- Brownish pink with a bit of orange or warmth
Medium-Dark (Jennifer Lopez)- Brownish orange
Dark (Vanessa Williams)- Brownish Red
Deep (Venus Williams)- Brownish blue

Can you guess which skin type should use this color?

What about with just the name? Natural.

What about now with name and shade description?

Beige makes me think of "Light" although Tawny looks way too dark. The lightest color she sells does not look like a pink shimmer or peachy to me. It's called Golden Light for one and its described as "a light tan." I guess you could say a light tan was pink in hue but your still doing a bit of guess work there. Her newest edition, making 7, is called Elvis Duran and described as "a warm terracotta brown." Terracotta has is known as reddish brown so that would probably, according to her guide, go best with Dark or Vanessa Williams skin tone. The Elvis Duran doesn't look like it would show up as a tan on a Vanessa Williams type. It looks way too light. Come on Bobbi, give it to us straight! The same goes for corrector, concealer, lips, and eye shadow. She has a nice neat list in her book but her make-up line does not describe its products accordingly. So we're going to trust Bobbi Brown and her color recommendations but we're going to look into other make-up companies and find out what kind of information they give us. It may be none but we may find one. I took a look around last night after reading this and so far I haven't found one company that lists their bronzers undertone or tone, period. The best thing I found was a post from Jaclyn Hill's blog talking about what brand and type of Bronzer you want to use if YOU have a specific undertone. We'll do this for each one of BB's recommendations, starting with Bronzer.

Make Your Own Value Set

I figured that we should try making our own value sets by coming 3-4 travel size and mini items or duo's. Most of these will be the type of value set that includes several different brands like Ulta's Summer Favorites or Sephora's Summer Stash value set. Each of those comes with about 7 itty bitty products and runs about $45, but we'll be mixing our own travel and mini products. See what we can get. It may not work... but we'll try. These are just a few of the kits I was able to put together by looking through the gift (you can buy those gifts they offer with purchases for a few dollars), travel, and duo deals. They range about the same as the other kits and come with a few full sized items but they're personal to me. These are kits I'd definitely take home and try.

Touch-up Kit
Includes: Benefit They're Real, Mascara, Urban Decay Long Lasting Setting Spray, Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick Duo
Price: $36.00 or $12/item
Price/Item: $10, $14, $12


Stay Bronze Kit  
Includes: Lorac TANtilizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo, Tarte Maracuja Face & Body Tanner, NYX Baked Blush 
Price: $30 or $10/item
Price/Item: $12, $12, $6


Full Finishing Kit
Includes: Tarte BB Tinted Cream & 12- hr Primer, Urban Decay SuperCurl Mascara, NYX Powder Blush, bareMinerals Ready Touch Translucent Veil
Price: $50.00 or $12.50/item
Price/Item: $10, $10, $6, $23
Full Price - Difference:

Lip and Cheek Kit
Includes: Benefit high beam and Posietine, Tarte Mascara and Lipsurgence Crayon
Price: $29.00 or $7.25/item
Price/Item: $13.00, $16

Add this $13 duo...

...to this $16 for a full lip check and lash kit.

Face, Lip, & Cheek Kit
Includes: Stila BB Trio, bareMinerals Moxie lipgloss & lipstick, benefit high beam & Posietint
Price: $37.00 or $5.29/item
Price/Item: $12, $12, $13

Face, Lips, and Cheeks Kit for $37.00

Full, Travel & Mini Combo: BEST Value Sets

Since I used mainly Sephora's website because they had a good array of Value Sets, I wanted to give you a 3rd post with Ulta's Full, Travel, Mini combo value sets. Thought those were worth a look. You get the kit for a dollar or two more than the full sized item price. Incredible!

There are many more of these full, travel, and mini sized combo sets at Ulta and Ulta.com. Most of them almost exceed their value in the one full sized item alone. These are great to buy if you know you like that one item and are going to buy it anyway. Why not pay $1-$4 extra and get 3 or 4 extra products! Amazing!! I'm glad I know this because I really didn't until I started looking into value sets. If you ask me these are the best value, value sets.

 

Important: The bold item is the full-sized one in the kit and "medium" refers to travel-size rather than mini. The other items that aren't bolded or labeled medium are mini-sized or something in between mini and travel. 

Tarte To Brighter Days Complexion Essentials
Includes:

Deluxe Double Detox Amazonian Clay Exfoliating Facial Mask (0.1 oz.)

Deluxe Maracuja Oil (0.23 oz.)

Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Adored (0.2 oz.)

Deluxe Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder (0.7 oz.)

Price: $29.00Full Price & Difference: $142.00 - $29.00= $113
Note: The blush alone is worth $26.00. This is an amazing, deal!

 
Benefit Totally Tantalizing Kit
Includes:

Hoola bronzing powder (0.28 oz.)

Benetint medium size of rose-tinted lip & cheek stain (0.13 oz.)

Price: $29.00Full Price & Difference: $58-29= $29.00
Note: The entire kit cost $1 more than the full size Hoola in it. Really good deal for all of you out there that love Hoola, and I know there are a lot. If you happen to love Benetint as well its a major bonus and if you don't its something you get to try for a buck!

Benefit POREfect Couple
Includes:

The POREfessional PRO balm to minimize the appearance of pores (0.75 oz.)

Total Moisture Facial Cream mini of hydra-concentrated facial cream (0.3 oz.)

Price: $32.00Full Price & Difference: $73.00-$32.00= $41.00
Note: Another really great deal. The POREfessional balm is $1 less then the entire kit, alone.

Tarte What Has Your Make Up Done for You Lately?
Includes:

Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder in Translucent (0.07 oz.)

multiplEYE Lash Enhancing Primer in White (0.15 fl. oz.)

Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara in Black (0.1 fl. oz.)

Skinny smolderEYES Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liner in Slate (0.04 oz.)

LipSurgence Lip Shine in Smitten (0.1 oz.)

Beauty & The Box Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Quad in Beauty Resolutions (0.2 oz.)

Price: $38.00
Full Price & Difference: $120.00 - $38.00= $82.00
Note: The liner is a $19 value and the lipsurgence/Eye Shadow are not mini nor travel they're bigger than mini and little smaller than travel. Just by a bit. Definitely worth the price.

Laura Geller Summer in Capri
Includes:

Baked Body Frosting with Puff in Tahitian Glow (0.32 oz.)

Baked Marble Eye Shadow Duo in Rome/Milan (0.06 oz.)

GlamLASH Dramatic Volumizing Mascara in Black (0.28 oz.)

Color Drenched Lip Gloss in Melon Infusion (0.3 fl. oz.)

Price: $39.00
Full Price & Difference: $112.00 - $39= $73.00
Note: Good deal if you like baked shadow and body bronzer. Otherwise I don't know that I love the set.

Smashbox Bestsellers Kit
Includes:

Photo Finish Foundation Primer in Classic or Light (1.0 oz.)

Photo Finish Lid Primer (0.02 oz.)

Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio in Multi-Flash (Shades include: Naked (Matte Nude Pink), Doe (Shimmer Soft Suede), Crisp (Shimmer Soft Peach)) (0.04 oz.)

Layer Lash Primer (0.14 oz.)

Full Exposure Mascara in Black (0.14 fl. oz.)

Price: $39.00
Full Price & Difference: $121.50 - $39= $82.50
Note: The primer alone costs $36.00 and the lid primer is almost full size (@ 0.2oz less). Those 2 items more than supersede the cost of the kit alone. Comes in Classic and Light. REALLY Great Deal!  

Laura Geller La Dolce Vita
Includes:

Balance-n-Brighten Baked Color Correcting Foundation in Medium (0.32 oz.)

Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Rosewater (0.17 oz.)

Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Eye Shadow in Caramel (0.07 oz.)

Love Me Dew Moisturizing Lip Crayon in Watermelon Cooler (0.1 oz.)

Double-Ended Blush and Eye Brush

Price: $39.00
Full Price & Difference: $95.50 - $39.00= $56.50
Note: Ulta lists a $124 value, not true but the crayon and brush alone are $19/item and the other items are travel size if not a little larger so it's worth it if you're into those particular products.

bareMinerals All That Brightens
Includes:

Desert Rose Blush (natural rose) (0.04 oz.)

Balance & Boost Mineral Veil finishing powder (0.07 oz.)

bareMinerals READY Eye Shadow 2.0 The Promise featuring Aspire + Vow (nude matte and soft peach) (0.1 oz.)

Lasting Line Long-wearing Eyeliner in Absolute Black (0.12 oz.)

Mini Marvelous Moxie Lip Gloss in Spark Plug (dusty pink pearl) (0.07 fl. oz.)

Flawless Application Face Brush

Price: $39.00
Full Price & Difference: $97.00 - $39= $58.00
Note: Again, the site lists an incorrect value of $105. The eyeliner alone is $16 and this really is a full face kit. You could tuck it in your bag and get ready from start to finish on a daily basis because the color are very neutral. Good deal filled with very popular bM products.

Full Size Me: Value Set

So I promised more full sized value sets and that's what you're going to get. Full sized value sets are only really a value if you know you tend to like that companies products. You tend to like those particular shades or you know you like those exact products. Otherwise they are cheaper but if you might not end up using them they aren't a true value. Don't go by the value on they say its worth on the box. That is truthfully incorrect most of the time. They overestimate according to fluid and viscous ounces your receiving. Most importantly only buy the full size value sets if you are a Pro Artist and need them for your kit or if you know you like and use those items. We'll be talking about how to make your own value set by collecting travel size duo's and individuals, tomorrow.

Color Guide: I included an image of each value set for your full information.
Black - full sized and good value if you know you like them 
Blue- Great Value & exclusive item
Fuchsia- good for Pro use
Red- popular items & pretty good value

 
bareMinerals Perfect Pair
Includes: Original Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Medium Tan and Prime Time Original Foundation Primer
Price: $35.00 or $17.50/item
Full Price & Difference: $53.00 - 35.00= $18.00
Note: These are two vary popular items that usually sell for about $26 a piece. So the savings is considerable if you know you use bareMinerals primer and original foundation.

bareMinerals The First Resort
Includes: Ready Color Boost in The Beach Is Waiting, Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Party Starter, Light stroke fan brush
Price: $35.00 or $11.67/item
Full Price & Difference: $66.10 - 35= $31.10
Note: You cannot get the palette on its own but the lip gloss alone is $18 and a bareMinerals brush runs about the same, $36, on those two items alone.

BUXOM Red Hot Set
Includes: Pen & Ink Long-Last Eyeliner in P.S. Ciao, Sculpted Lash Mascara in True Black, Full-On Lipstick in Barcelona, Full-On Lip Polish in Krystal
Price: $39.00 or $9.75
Full Price & Difference: $86.00 - $39= $47.00

Josie Maran Aragan Matchmaker Complexion Kit
Includes: Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelée in Poppy Paradise, Argan Matchmaker Powder Foundation SPF 20, Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation, 100 percent Pure Argan Oil Light, Argan Illuminizer sample
Price: $68.00 or $17/item
Full Price & Difference: $154 - $68= $86.00
Note: You really need to know you love all of these items for this to be a good value because individually they run about $30.00.

Tarte Cheek Stain Collector's Vault
Includes: Cheek Stain in Flush, Blushing Bride, Blissful, Exposed, Tipsy, True Love, Fearless, Natural Beauty
Price: $150.00 or $18.75 each
Full Price & Difference: $240 - $150= $90.00
Note: You'd have to love Tarte's cheek stains, all of them, or be a Pro to get value out of this set. They are full size and usually do cost $30 a pc. but I can't see anyone needing this many stains and loving all  the colors enough unless like I said your a Pro.

Tarte Eye-ssentials Amazonian Clay Discovery Kit
Includes: EmphasEYES™ Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow in Rich Brown, EmphasEYES™ Inner Rim Brightener, Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara, Eye shadow brush
Price: $33.00 or $8.25/item
Full Price & Difference: $63.00 - $33= $30
Note: Sephora lists a $74 value, incorrect.

Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tar Matte Trio Set
Includes: Lip Tar in Clockwork, Hush, Memento, Precision Lip Brush
Price: $39.50
Full Price & Difference: $54-$39.50= $14.50
Note: Separate set of Lip Tar in Nylon, Harlot, Trollop. Sephora lists a $74 value, incorrect. Each individual tar costs $18 and comes with a brush. You only get 1 brush for all 3 here so really its worth less than $54.00. A deal but not a value.

2nd set of shades offered.

Quick Taste Test & Value Sets

I went back and reapplied the Make Up For Ever lipstick. It was the lipstick. It tastes horrible. I mean bad... it reminded me of what true lipstick use to taste like 20 years ago, when I used to play with my moms. Not that she wore much or had the money for the expensive stuff but I did play with what she had... and I had my own play ones too. The fact that MUFE tastes like play lipstick and 20 year old lip lacquer is a travesty. It tastes bad, but the color is so good. The one thing that I'm worried about is that I've been sick so I don't want to go on my tastes buds, even my dinner tasted bad last night. So it may just be me. Especially, since its such a reputable company, its hard to believe that their lip products would taste so badly. Since Im a little off due to allergies and an impending cold we'll put off tasting until later but so far MUFE products taste bad, to me. We

We'll get into Value Sets today and Travel Size singulars tomorrow, until my senses have recovered from spring allergies. This is something I've been looking into for the last week and really want to discuss. They are so cute, come in sets with all different companies combined, and sets from one company. They run anywhere from $20 - $60. The in between ones seem to be the best. The best sets all have travel size or even smaller mini sized items. At the mini level each would last between a month and 1/2 to a few months and at the travel size level the products would last 2 months to 8 months depending on how often you use those particular products. That's pretty good. I've been doing the math on value sets that particularly interested me, Benefit and store favorite packs, and each item runs between $4.50 and $14. That's kind of great. You get a few months of the product the ability to try it without having to buy the full size item. If you bought all of those full size items they'd last you but you'd end up spending $100, $200, or more depending. If you don't like them you just threw a good chunk of money down the drain. I went through Sephora's website, Value Sets, and filtered items from low to high. We'll be discussing the ones I thought gave you the best bang for your buck, the bad  or just not great (bad in Fuchsia), and the ones included really popular items. Value Sets are great when you are just want to try the item, don't know if it's something you'll like, your on a budget and want high end stuff, or you just don't wear make-up that often.

Color Guide:
Black - popular and good value
Blue- Great Value
Fuchsia- not great at all but worth mentioning for full information
Red- Full sized and good value if you know you like the items

Too Faced:

Better Than Sex Amazing Eye Set
Includes: travel size mascara and full size eye liner pencil
Price: $12.00 or $6/item

Sexy Lips & Lashes
Includes: Travel size lip plumping gloss and volume-enhancing mascara
Price: $15 or $7.50/item
Full Price & Diff.: $51.00 -$15= $36.00
Note: You can pay $5 more for 2 more products and get a BUXOM lip plumper (travel size) they are better at plumping anyway and come with a beautiful tint of choice.

Beauty Blogger Darlings
Includes: Bronzer in Chocolate Soleil Bronzer, Primed & Poreless Face Primer, Better Than Sex Mascara, Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer
Price: $20 or $5/item
Full Size Price & Difference: $103.00 - $20 = $83d.

The Mascara & Bronzing Holy Grail
Includes: Bronzer in Chocolate Soleil Bronzer and Better Than Sex Mascara
Price: $23.00 or $11.50/item
Full Price & Difference: $58.00 - $23= $35
Note: The mascara is .10 ounces larger than the Beauty Blogger set but you get 2 extra products for -$3

Benefit Value Sets:

Goodtime Gals
Includes: "That Gal” primer, poppy-pink lip and cheek stain Posietint, and luminizing Girl Meets Pearl (travel size) 
Price: $15.00 or $5.00/item
Full Price & Difference: $69.00 - $15.00= $54.00
Note: This is a great deal! The Posietint is two products in one, so it really is more like $3.75/item.

You Go Gals!
Includes: The POREfessional primer, "That Gal" primer, and Girl Meets Pearl
Price: $18.00
Full Price & Difference: $80.00 - $18= $62
Note:  The POREfessional mini is $10 on it's own so this is a really great deal. I might go with the Goodtime Gals set because "That Gal" is a brightening primer. You get 2 primers in this set, yes, different functions but primers all the same. Either one is an amazing deal.

Beauty Score! (very, very mini products good for someone looking to test)
Includes: Hoola bronzing powder, Bella Bamba blush, The POREfessional pore minimizer, “That Gal” brightening face primer, It's Potent! eye cream, They’re Real mascara, Ooh La Lift under-eye brightener, Stay Don’t Stray in Light/Medium primer for concealers and eyeshadows, Benetint lip and cheek stain, High Beam complexion enhancer
Price: $36.00 or $3.60/item
Full Price & Difference: $223 - $36= $187
Note: It says the value is $88 on Sephora.com, my full price refers to buying every full size item included in the set. The mini POREfessional or They're Real are $10 each, alone, these are more mini but it give you an idea.

Benefit Box Sets: All the Box Sets by Benefit include guides and a mirror. They are all great sets to pop into your purse or desk for an on-the-go any time touch up.

Go TropiCORAL

Feelin' Dandy Lip & Cheek Kit
Includes: Posetint, Dandelion, High Beam, Ultra Plush Dandelion, Mini powder brushPrice: $28.00 or $7/item not including the brush
Full Price & Difference: $100.00 - $28.00= $72.00
Note: The products are smaller than they look in the pictures but they will last you at least a month if your using them on an everyday basis and multiple times a day (for touch ups).

Go TropiCORAL Lip & Cheek Kit
Includes: Chachatint, Coralista, High Beam, Ultra Plush Coralista, Mini powder brushPrice: $28.00 or $7/item n/incl. brush
Full Price & Difference: $100 - $28= $72.00
Note: Everything really is coral. So make sure you like coral on yourself before getting this set. One of my personal faves.

Sugarlicious Lip & Cheek Kit
Includes: Benetint, Sugarbomb, High Beam, Ultra Plush Sugarbomb, Mini powder brush
Price: $28.00 or $7/item n/incl. brush
Full Price & Difference: $100 - $28= $72.00
Note: Probably the most diverse in shade range. Very nice set.

Do the Bright Thing
Includes: "that gal" Brightening Face Primer, High Beam Luminescent Complexion Enhancer , Dandelion Brightening Face Powder, Powder Brush, They're Real! Beyond Mascara in Black, Bad Gal Liner Waterproof Eye Pencil in Extra Black
Price: $32.00 or $6.40/item n/incl. brush
Full Price & Difference: $126 - $32= $94.00
Note: The smaller boxes are great deals but these little larger ones have 2 extra items, the guide, box, and mirror for $4.00 extra.

Larger box set. Do The Bright Thing

BUXOM: Value Sets:

Passport Collection- The Day Tripper
Includes: Color Choreography Eyeshadow in Point (charcoal), Whirl (pale gold), Freestyle (peacock blue), Mini Lash Mascara in Blackest Black, True Hue Blush in Luvitate, Mini Hot Escapes Bronzer in Tahiti, Mini Lip Cream in Cherry Flip, 2 x Brushes, Portable zippered pouch with mirror 
Price: $39.00 or $4.33/item
Full Price & Difference: $170 - $39= $131.00
Note: The website lists a $79.00 value but it would cost $170 to buy each of these full-size items. Great set!

Lips So Luxe (all full-sized)
Includes: Full-On™ Lip Cream in Creamsicle, Full-On Lip Tarnish in Wardrobe Malfunction, Full-Bodied™ Lip Gloss in Boo-Ya
Price: $34.00 or $14/item
Full Price & Difference: $57.00 - $34= $23.00
Note: Really great deal if you know you like these. I happen to love Creamsicle!

More full sized sets to come...

The Senses: Taste Mini Post

We'll get back to pricing soon but I was at Sephora today getting my free birthday gift by Make Up For Ever; mascara and lipstick. All you have to do to get it is sign up for a Beauty Insider card, no purchase necessary. I tried a BUXOM lip plumping gloss while I was there and it made my tongue numb. Then I got home and tried the lipstick that came in my little gift set, artist rouge natural line in Copper Pink (N9), a really gorgeous color. The taste was intensely awful. I still taste it an hour after rubbing it all off. I don't know if it was a mix of the 2 products of just the MUFE lipstick but this got me thinking about lip product tastes. These are supposed to be high-end items. What is going on? They know we're putting them on our mouths what is up with making them taste horrible? I told my boyfriend about this Mario Badescu serum sample I got and he said "They should make their samples extra good... so you want to buy them then make the real thing not as good to save." I got to thinking about this, samples should be extra good. The point is to get us to try and then buy. If MUFE is skimping on their lipstick samples or that's what the real thing taste like they've got a problem either way.

Make Up For Ever birthday gift set. Pretty but the lipstick seemingly taste disgusting.

So we'll be delving into taste. What lip product can you just not stand the taste of? I loved the color and I'll only try it once more to see if it was the mix of the two that tasted so bad if it's not the mix I'll never ever buy a MUFE lip product. YUCK! I still taste it. Truly disgusting.

Tutorial- My Daily Routine

Since it's the weekend I decided that I would do another application tutorial. This one is a look you can apply daily and in several different ways. It can easily go from day to night using any range of products you'd like.

Preparing for application:

Step 1:
I start off each day my adding a little organic fine grain sugar to a hydrating cleanser and exfoliating my face. I do have troubled skin so I use Tretinoin, any acne cream is going to regenerate skin cells quickly, so I need to exfoliate daily to stop from getting that peely look when I apply my make-up. You'll get it no matter how much you moisturize if you need to exfoliate and haven't. I use to think applying a layer of moisturizer on top of my make up would stop the peeling. It did for about 5 minutes, messed my make up all up, and then went back to peeling. Exfoliate!! I cannot say it enough. Use sugar, its a really inexpensive and works like a charm. You can even use regular dominion sugar, the stuff you put in your coffee.

Step 2:
Because I mix the sugar with my CerVe Hydrating cleanser I make sure to tone thoroughly. I would anyway but especially to make sure every drop of sugar is removed from my skin. I use the Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion. It is a miracle in a bottle. No alcohol at all and fairly inexpensive. You can get a Mario Badescu regime kit with the Enzyme cleansing gel (I use this at night to get every speck of make up off), Cucumber Cleansing Lotion, Aloe Oil-free moisturizer, a kaolin face mask, and seaweed night cream for $30.00. Yes, they are travel size but the kit will last you over a month and I've haven't had to replace everything at once. I had to replace the seaweed night cream first ($20), a couple weeks later I replaced the Cucumber Cleansing Lotion ($18), and I've yet had the need to replace anything else. I do use a different cleanser in the morning though. If I used the Enzyme Cleansing Gel it comes with I'm sure I would have needed to replace that by now. I tend to have dry skin in the mornings so I use something hydrating, like CerVe. The Enzyme Cleansing Gel can be a little too drying used twice a day but is great in the evenings and get every single speck of make up off. MAJOR TANGENT!

Step 3:
After toning, I apply my medicated acne cream, Chlyndomicin. I apply a Nivea cream to my eyes while the medication dries because it has a little oil and my mother, who is 63 and only has eye wrinkles, has used it on her entire face since she was 15. That's proof enough for me. The skin under your eyes does not produce oil.

Step 4:
Apply moisturizer. I use the MB oil-free Aloe but if you are dry of skin use something with oil. If you get pimples but they aren't chronic and don't use a medicated cream use the MB acne kit and corresponding lotion. Apply what you need to hydrate your skin thoroughly enough to apply your make up. If your make up isn't quite looking right or your getting an orange peel look after applying your foundation your not hydrating enough. That's a direct paraphrase from Bobbi Brown herself.

NOW THE MAKE UP!
This is the way I do it. Just grab the items I mention for the specific look in the order that works for you, if you have one; except the highlighter.

Step 1:
Wait 2 minutes for your moisturizer to seep in if your applying immediately after preparing your skin then apply a light layer of concealer to your eye lids. Make sure it is no-crease concealer, if not, use a matte shadow a shade lighter than your skin. I use Makeup Geek's Vanilla Bean or Wet N Wild's Crème Brulee. I apply that all over the lid and slightly into the crease.

Step 2: grab a simple contouring shade I use either the crease color from L'Oreal's Cupa Joe palette or Makeup Geek's Crème Brulee (very different from WNW CB). Crème Brulee is a medium sand color and the cupa joe is a taupe color. I apply these either of these in a moon shape in the outer corner blending the least amount of color into the crease, for a light contour. You can apply a satin or lightly shimmering highlight under the brow but I leave this out sometimes for a truly fresh no make up, make up look.

Step 3-
Apply concealer under the eyes and blend out to the temple. Don't apply something too light, just light enough to cover and correct those dark circles. Apply the thinnest layer possible while still covering. I use Dream Lumi Highlighting concealer, MAC Pro Longwear in NW20, or NYX in Fair. Sometimes I need a mix of those. Using a warm finger will get you the best, most evenly thin application. Pat don't drag your finger around the under-eye then set your concealer. This is KEY! It makes everything look seamless. Use a loose translucent powder, a light press powder, or any skin tone powder. I use Physicians formula mosaic press powder. It has a white, pink, natural and several bisque colors. I take a little white and darker bisque for the perfect setting.

Step 4:
I don't apply foundation because I don't need it most of the time after I apply my concealer but if you need some coverage for blemishes (apply concealer on the blemishes, not under-eye concealer, pot concealer) or just don't feel comfortable without some coverage go for a BB cream or Tinted Moisturizer, especially because we're in the Spring/Summer months of the year. Something lighter is better no matter how much coverage you need at this time of year. Emulsify it between your fingers and pat into your skin. After patting the first layer in, take a look and add extra wear necessary for extra coverage.

Step 5:
Lightly bronze your face. Hallows of the cheeks, forehead, temples and very lightly around the jaw line using a matte bronzer. I use NYC Sunny Bronzer.

Step 6:
Apply a matte peachy/coral blush. Peach complements almost everyone. If your complexion is dark apply something more bright orange, it'll come out peachy/coraly. Apply too the apples of your cheeks in little circles then drawn back to the temple. Once at the temple blend down to the bronzer to remove any harsh lines. This will give you such a radiant glow.

Step 7:
Grab your highlighter. Apply a pink-brown bronzer along the top line of the blush with a fan brush or any precise applicator blush. If your using a fan brush, after applying to both cheeks go back and flick the product you've apply downward, slightly. If your not using a fan brush grab any face brush and blend lightly from the top to the center of your blush.

Step 8:
Curl your lashes. Apply 2-3 coats of mascara. This is important, it'll really make your eyes pop with that shadow without any extra product.

Step 9:
Apply a peachy or pinkish nude lip gloss like NYX Maple Blondie.

You should have a really great, fresh, radiant glow but if it isn't enough apply dark shadow (for a more natural look) in your choice color to the upper lash line. If you choose liner apply to the upper outer half of your lash line, then blend out what you've applied to the inner corner for a, guaranteed, light and more natural look. You'll look amazing every time and especially naturally beautiful. 

If you want to go out after work all you have to do is add a little eyeliner or more eyeliner and a more vibrant lipstick with the gloss you used before on top and your good to go. You can even add a little of a lighter shade highlighting powder to your cupids bow, bridge of your nose and center of your forehead. I use Revlon's shimmer brick, using the lightest to really glow in the evening.

Placement: Brown = bronzer. Pink = blush. Baby Pink On top of Blush = Highlighter. Pale Yellow = concealer. Grey = eye shadow contour.