Kat Von D Butterfly Effect Palettes

Today, I have the Kat Von D Monarch and Chrysalis palettes from the Butterfly Effect collection to review for you! This is my first ever palette review, so if you have any suggestions of what you'd like out of reviews in the future, leave them in the comments below!

Monarch palette on top; Chrysalis palette on bottom 

Each palette contains 12 shadows (9 bolder colors, and 3 larger highlight shades). The shadows come in a sturdy, cardboard cases that are beautifully adorned with metallic butterflies. 

The Monarch Palette 

L to R: Entomology, Wrath, Papilio, Summerfly 

Entomology is a matte ivory shade

Wrath is a beautiful rust orange 

Papilio is a bronze-y brown

Summerfly is a molten gold

L to R: Telepathy, Killing Jar, Delaney, Vanish

Telepathy is a pearl gold 

Killing Jar is a pinky peach 

Delaney is a dusty pewter 

Vanish is a velvety matte taupe

L to R: Tiny Death, Disintegration, Shadow Box, Deadhead 

Tiny Death is a light beige with iridescent shimmer throughout 

Disintegration is a chocolate brown with gold shimmer 

Shadow box is a dark matte brown 

Deadhead is a matte black

This palette is SO incredible. It is more versatile than you would think upon first glance, and the shadows are so buttery and smooth upon application. My favorite shades are Wrath, Papillo, Summerfly, Killing Jar, and Delaney (I'm a sucker for shimmer!). I can't find many tutorials that use Killing Jar or Delaney, and I am itching to use those shades! If you know of any, let me know! 

The Chrysalis Palette

L to R: Lifelike, Hybrid Moments, Mezzanine, Transition 

Lifelike is a matte white cream

Hybrid Moments is a deep eggplant satin

Mezzanine is a amethyst shimmer 

Transition is a pearl lavender 

L to R: Lunar Lights, Glasswing, Melancholia, Black Milk 

Lunar Lights is a pearl gray 

Glasswing is a satin taupe

Melancholia is a warm silver toned gold

Black Milk is a matte dove gray 

L to R: Lucid, Graphic Nature, Entombed, Tornay

Lucid is a light lilac with white glitter 

Graphic Nature is a deep graphite gray 

Entombed is a pearl light navy blue with a subtle color shift 

Tornay is a matte deep navy 

WOW. Just like the Monarch palette, the shadows are incredibly smooth and INSANELY pigmented. Especially with some of the glittery shades, you barely have to dip your brush in to get a nice thick layer on your lid. My favorites from this palette are Graphic Nature, Entombed, Melancholia, Transition, and Lifelike. 

Again, I couldn't find tutorials for some of the less obvious colors, so I ended up making my own shadow look using Melancholia, Black Milk, and Graphic Nature and it turned out great. The colors in these palettes are so complimentary and easy to combine in new and interesting ways. Coming up with new combinations and ways to wear these could keep any shadow enthusiast busy for quite some time! 

These retail for $48 each, and I could not recommend them enough. I've been using these palettes nearly everyday for a month and cannot get over how awesome and fun they are. 

January Ipsy Review: Fresh Start

For the New Year, Ipsy decided to kick off the January bag with the theme "Fresh Start", which is also exactly what I'm giving my Glam Bag reviews. From now on, Ipsy reviews will have a "bottom line" summary at the top with more detailed product reviews below. That way, people who like to get in and get out with whether the bag was worth it can do just that, and those who want more detail can keep on reading :) 

January: "Fresh Start"

Overall rating: 3.5 stars 

Best product: Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in the shade "Light" was by far the best product I have received from Ipsy, possibly ever. More on that below. 

Worst product: Hikari Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner in the shade "Storm". 

Most expensive product: Velvet 59 Velvet Rose Lipgloss in shade "Noisette" retails $19. 

Glam Bag total value (estimate): $53.85

And now for the breakdown...

Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eyeshadow in "Ethereal" 

This month, all ipsters received one of two shades of this eye shadow. I got "Ethereal ", which is a pretty shimmery champagne color. The pigmentation on it isn't fantastic, but it provides a nice subtle shimmer. I actually haven't used it as an eyeshadow yet, but it makes a pretty beautiful highlighter, which is great because I really needed one. Overall, I give the product 4 stars, mainly because I was so excited to have a nice powder highlighter. 

Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow Brush

I'm always pleased to get a new makeup brush, and Elizabeth Mott's did not disappoint. The brush is cute, has super soft bristles, but is still sturdy enough to really grab onto shadows (that means less fallout for you!). I wish it had been a tapered blending brush instead, since I already have a brush like this, but I like to try out new brush brands. Overall I give it 4 stars. 

(Malin + Goetz) Mojito Lip Balm

I'll be honest: lip balms usually don't have me giddy with excitement. With that being said, my lips get ludicrously dry in the winter, and this couldn't have been more needed. While I think they are being a bit bougie with the scent "Mojito" - it smells like any other mint lip balm - the formula is fantastic. It's thick and hydrating but not overly sticky. It is also super glossy for something marketed as a balm, so if you're looking for something to hydrate and shine, this is a nice option. 3 stars for this product. 

Hikari Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner in "Storm"

I only used this eyeliner once so far, but I'm not impressed. Granted, I used it on my waterline, but I found the color payout was weak and the formula not all that fantastic. It swatched okay on my hand, but I had to go back and forth pretty vigorously for the color to really show up. This one gets 2 stars. 

Velvet 59 Velvet Rose Lipgloss in "Noisette"

Initially, I wasn't overly excited about the shade of this lip gloss, but it's really very nice alone or over another lip color. And, as a fun little surprise, it is rose scented, too! The formula is thick but not sticky. I gave this product 3 stars. 

Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in "Light" 

The gold star product in my Glam Bag this month was this concealer from Benefit by a landslide. The funny thing about that is this wasn't a product that was included in the January bag; I spent 500 of my accumulated Ipsy points to get it, and it came along with this month's bag. I couldn't be more satisfied with this product. The concealer itself is nestled in a little hydrating ring. It glides on super smooth, blends beautifully, hydrates, and completely covers my under eye circles as well as my blemishes. Check it out:

Without concealer

With concealer

I fully intend on making this product a part of my makeup regimine once the sample is gone. 5 stars!! 

Overall, this was definitely not the most exciting Glam Bag I've ever received, but I did get a few useful products out of it. I'm looking forward to see what products they pick for Valentine's Day next month!

Are you an Ipsy subscriber? Which products did you get this month? Which did you love and which did you hate? Were you inspired by any of my reviews to try a new product? Comment below! 

Power Ranger Nails

If you grew up in the 90's, you're probably familiar with the Power Rangers. The live-action show was about a group of teens that could morph into a team of heroes with specialized strengths, skills, and weapons. Fight scenes and explosives were prominent elements on the show. 

I recently had some money left over on a Michael's gift card and picked up a couple of nice detailing brushes. Eager to put them to the test, I wanted to go for a more detail oriented manicure this week, and I thought the Power Rangers costumes would be a neat premise. 

What was your favorite TV show/cartoon from the 90's? Did you have a favorite Power Ranger? I always liked the pink ranger because she was a blonde girl like me :)

Coming up this week I'm hoping to have a bonus post featuring the Kat Von D Butterfly Effect palettes, so keep your eyes peeled!

Color of the Month: Garnet

This is it, folks! My last ever color of the month post. January's was actually pretty fun to do. 

Before I get started, I just wanted to let all my readers know that commenting on this page is now enabled. It was recently brought to my attention that people could not comment on my blog, so I fixed it! I'd love to chat with you guys so leave your messages below! 

For those who don't know, the birthstone for January is garnet. Most of you probably have seen this in it's deep red form, but while doing my research I learned that garnet exists in other colors as well, including green, yellow, and orange! 

My wheels started turning as I considered how to incorporate these colors together into one mani. And I realized that red, yellow, and green would make a sweet gradient manicure. 

I got so many compliments on this manicure and so many strangers asked me how I achieved this look. 

For this look, I used Zoya in "Sooki", "Darcy", and "Tilda" as well as a makeup sponge. 

First, I painted two coats of yellow over a base coat and let it dry completely. Next, I painted one stripe each of red, then yellow, then green onto a makeup sponge, overlapping the colors slightly. Finally, I rolled/dabbed the makeup sponge onto my yellow base to create the gradient you see. A top coat helps smooth out the final look! 

I loved this gradient. When I went to Antigua on my honeymoon, I had a tropical layered daiquiri drink that looked just like this. Every glance at my fingers this week had me dreaming of warmer weather. My husband also loved it because it was, as he said, "very Bob Marley". 

What are some of your favorite gradient color combos? 

Happy Birthday, Leviosa Lacquer!

It's official! As of January 2nd, my blog is one year old. Last year on New Year's Eve I made a commitment to start this blog and post weekly for a whole year, and I am proud to have stuck to that commitment.

This blog didn't get as big as I hoped it would in one year, but it also got much bigger than I thought it would. While the number of readers I receive is typically low, I am constantly blown away by the steady audience I have all over the world. My blog is based in the United States, but I have loyal readers in China, Germany, Thailand, Poland, Ireland, and much, much more. It's hard to fathom that my website gets that much global reach. 

For this next upcoming year, I have some goals and changes that I would like to see happen. I would love to host my first giveaway. Also, after my January edition, I will be doing away with my Color of the Month feature. It did not pull as many views as I would have liked, and honestly the thought of coming up with 12 new birthstone themed manicures makes me want to scratch my eyes out ;P

I'd really like to get more feedback from YOU! I'd like a more interactive blog experience, so I'm going to try to post more questions for you guys to answer in the comments. So, to kick that off, what would you like to see more of on here in 2015? What would you like to see less of? As of now, the only way I can gauge what people like is by view count. I'd really love some more insight on what I can do better to make this more entertaining/informative. 

Finally, I made a little collage of my favorite 12 manicures of 2014. Are there any that you particularly loved that I didn't include? 

Thank you all for your continued support, and don't forget to comment below if you have any suggestions!