The Musings of a Working Mom

Okay I know that this post might be a little late for you gift buyers or this post is exactly what you have been waiting for since you find it difficult to buy something nice for your beauty loving friends. Now since I have not purchased a lot of makeup this year (I made a resolution to to use up what I have but did buy products that were limited edition or felt like they would be a good addition to my collection), I did find some products that I think every beauty loving gal would love to have. The first item on my list was just released in stores this week (but online last week I think) so if this is something you want to get your hands on - do so quickly before it sells out.  It's the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette.  If you have the other 2 Naked palettes and don't think that you need another Naked palette, well this palette is quite different than the first 2.  The original Naked palette is described as "bronze-hued neutrals", the Naked 2 palette is described as ...

OK, now I know that it's been a very, very long time since I've posted anything beauty related but quite honestly, I haven't really purchased anything new and I've just been using up what I have.  Actually, that was one of my 2013 New Years resolution - 1) to not buy anymore makeup and 2) to use up the products that I already have.  After taking inventory of my makeup collection, I noticed that I purchased a lot, and I mean A LOT of makeup products in 2012.  And I came to the realization that I really need to use up what I have before I buy any more.  Ok I did buy a couple of new things;)  So anyway, sorry for the lack of beauty related articles. "Simple and Easy" has been my make-up motto for the past couple of months!  I haven't been in the mood for complicated and fussy make-up so I have resorted to finding products that are multi-purpose and pack a big punch.   I have really liked the effect of using a concealer (specifically the Tarte Maracuja...

Happy New Year!  And what a year it has been?  It's been a year since I started my blog and one of my first posts was a list of my 2011 favorites...and here we have come round full circle to my favorites list of 2012.   But first off I want to thank all of you for your continued support and for coming back to read my blog posts, commenting, and subscribing to my blog.  This blog has been my side project and my baby (outside of my real babies).  I have had so much fun writing for this blog and doing my "research" (i.e. having a great excuse to buy makeup and beauty products).  I have done quite of bit of "research" this year and have found a lot of great low-end and high-end products that have become my favorites for this past year.  This blog has also allowed me to try beauty products outside of my beloved MAC brand and I have found some amazing products at all price points.  It has taken me quite some time to compile my list but here are my fav...

I fell in love with this palette last year when I spotted it at my Sephora right before the holidays.  I had to have this palette, especially since it has just about everything you need in one palette and with "good for you" ingredients, how can you go wrong?   I love Tarte and it's "Amazonian Clay infused" makeup.  This palette has 2 of their famous Amazonian Clay blushes, their Park Avenue Princess bronzer, and Amazonian Clay Shimmering highlighting powder in Champagne on the left side of the palette.  And as they claim, these Tarte Amazonian Clay infused blushes give you up to 12 hours of full-on pigmented color.   On the right side, there are 12 gorgeous Amazonian clay infused eye shadows in both matte and shimmering finishes -  shimmering platinum, shimmering sienna, matte chai tea, matte light pink, shimmering sage, shimmering citrine, shimmering steel blue, shimmering sunset gold, shimmering cocoa, shimmering smoke, matte coffee liquor, burnish...

I say it every month but it's true - the month flew right on by.  I can't believe that November is over and Christmas and New Years are right around the corner!!  Not to mention that my twins will turn 6 - what what??? Here are my favorites for the month of November: 1.   EcoTools Brush Set :  I purchased this set from CVS ages ago and they have been pushed to the back of my brush stash until recently.  I forgot how much I love these little brushes.  My favorite is the "smudge"brush - it's perfect for smudging out color or liner on the upper and lower lash line, as well as applying a highlight color to the inner tear duct area.  Quite honestly, all of these brushes are great and best of all, this is an inexpensive set - quality brushes for a drugstore price!  Not only can you use this set on a daily basis, but it's small enough to travel with. 2.   Blushes:  NYX Mosaic Powder Blush in Rosey and Tarte 12-hour Amazonian Clay Blush ...

Well Tarte has done it again!!  They have put out another gorgeous holiday gift set which is part of the their "Baby It's Bold Outside" holiday collection .  I had originally resisted buying this set only because I have so many eye shadows and a lot of glosses but this set had so many awesome items and at $54, I couldn't resist!  This gift set has a little bit of everything it in - something for the eyes, cheeks, lips, face....and all packaged in a cute and usable gold and purple travel bag. This set has six eye shadow quads (for a total of 24 shadows) with a good mix of bold and neutral shades as well as shimmer and matte finishes.  Unfortunately, like most palettes, there are only a few mattes (4 in this set) and 20 shimmery shades.  I wish that Tarte had included more matte shadows to use for blending but we'll take what we can get.  And as always, the shadows are richly pigmented with great color payoff and they are easy to apply and blend out. ...

Here is another awesome and much coveted gift set from one of my favorite brands - Tarte!  This set features 4 mini (0.1 oz) Amazonian Clay blushes.  The regular size blushes (0.2 oz) retail for $25 each but this set is $35 for 4 amazing blushes (well 3 blushes, 1 highlighter).  Actually one of the blushes could be used as a bronzer/contour powder...but either way, you get 4 awesome shades in an amazing formulation.  And I love that these shades are universally flattering.  In this set, you get the shade Angelic, which is described as shimmering champagne (shimmer); Fantastic, soft fuchsia (matte); Magic, pink coral (matte); and Stellar, shimmering nude (shimmer).  These shades do seem to be limited edition and not part of their regular collection so I would get your hands on them as soon as you can before they sell out! I do love these blushes - just like their full size counterparts they seem to adjust to your skin needs.  If you have dry skin, t...