Revisiting the NYX "butt" naked Palette

Say you're going back for your high school reunion and you're thinking about that guy, that cute guy you had a fling with for a few months. He was the coolest, and most fun, the hottest, that twinkle in his eye. And then you go back, and you realize he's only okay.

That describes my experience this morning with what once was my favorite palette. I'd still use this in a pinch, don't get me wrong. As you can see, it has an impressive array of neutrals, and some lovely and versatile blushes, to boot.

But it's so weird for me to realize this because I used to do my face with this thing every single day. And now I'm kind of over it.

NYX "butt" naked palette - lower drawer with blushes, contour and highlighters

NYX "butt" naked palette, top drawer, shadows. I want to reorganize this thang!

The trouble is, I've got the Viseart #1eye shadow palette now, and even better, the Mehron neutrals, too. And these blend so very well, and afford the option to create any number of subtle looks, in less time, requiring less blending. So my old friend is just not as good. The shadow colors don't make a smooth spectrum of browns and grays, and the finishes, although interesting, are uneven in their payoff. I wish they were arranged in a more logical fashion. But here is the look I made with them.

My complaint with the blushes is that they have large chunks of glitter rather than fine-milled shimmer. The thing that ruined me for these is the Sleek Face Form. Especially its highlighter, is so much more luxe. The shiny bits are fine-milled, but it's pigmented and slips onto the places you put it like a whisper. In contrast, the NYX one shouts. I do like the coral-pink blush in the NYX palette, though.

I put this Darling Girl shade on the eyelids. Gold with a green shift. I had to warm it up with Cocoa from my Mehron palette, otherwise it would have looked
a bit light a healing bruise, on my skin tone.

The smashbox brow tech to go pencil rocks, I must say! Maybe I'm going too far with the brows, like to Audrey Hepburn proportions, but I don't care. I love the romance of these dramatic brow shapes.

I find I can't go out lately without a winged out black eye liner. My fave is the Maybelline Eye Studio felt tip liner. Get you one!

So today's makeup was a lot of look, as Tim Gunn might say. One of the things amping it up was the NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk on the lower waterline. It's very showy showgirl. Not Showgirls. Get your mind out of the gutter, now!

What do you think of this look? Ever been in love with a product, then find, after using others, that you've moved on? Tell me about it below. Let us discuss, elicidate, elaborate, People!

Did this lip with one of the Cover Girl chunky lip pencils - No. 2340, which is a catchy name - not! Very pretty color, though. Does any drugstore brand not have a line of chunky lip pencils nowadays? And seriously, is it really all that different from just your garden variety lipstick in it's old fashioned tube? But I love the cherry beet red tone. Bit of a surprise, really.

Anyway, did I mention I'm going to France next week? Hope to video, blog, and all that good stuff! Yay!!!

Love, BeautyJones!

The Makeup Show LA Pix

Long line at The Makeup Show LA

Since it's taking me a while to get my Haul video uploading onto YouTube, here are some fun pix from The Makeup Show LA. Great fun, nice folks, awesome loot!

More soon! Love, BeautyJones!

Endura Body Paint

Beautyful OCC Pigments and Lip Tars

Pursebuzz's Adorable Accessories

Nars Counter

Body Painting at Mehron

Gorgeousness at Mehron

Body Painting at Makeup Academy

Glitter Swatches at Eye Kandy Cosmetics

My Eye Kandy Glitter Eye using Candy Corn

Gorgeous Eye Kandy Glitter Swatches

More Eye Kandy Swatches

Make Up For Ever Presentation

New Crown Brush Synthetic Brush Collection

Limecrime Counter at Naimie's Cosmetics

Eye Kandy Glitter Eyes and Limecrime Velvetine in Suedeberry - Wow!

Naked Cosmetics Twilight Collection - nakedcosmetics.com

Naked Cosmetics Urban Rustic Collection

Hope this was fun for you guys! I really enjoyed the show this year! Can't wait to do the official photos of this stuff so I can get to using it.

I'm a bit hung up on the Zombie makeup look of the 30 Day Makeup Challenge. I may skip it so I can move on. I like these challenges--they are so motivating.

Hope you all are well! Keep reading! Nice giveaway coming soon!

Comment, Subscribe and thanks for coming by!

30 Day Makeup Challenge: Day 10, Nude Eyes, Nude Lips

Sorry for how long these blog post titles are getting. I much prefer short and sweet, but there's lots of info to convey.

So today's challenge was nude eyes and nude lips, which isn't so hard for me, and probably not for you, either, since nudes and neutrals are kind of the usual daily makeup look for those of us who do wear the stuff.

To make it more interesting for myself, I decided to use Mr, Wayne Goss's technique from one of his recent videos called "How to Blend Eye Makeup Like a Pro". I subscribe to his channel because his videos are brief and full of helpful info from a pro makeup artist. I also like his British accent, and he's pretty darned cute, as well.

The surprising tip in his video is to apply your crease color with your eye open so that you can really find the right groove. This is not terribly attractive, but it does work. And so that's what I tried for my eyes. I ended up with a bit darker application than I'm used to, but I like it. What do you think?

Eye Shadow, in order of application:

• MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre on upper and lower lids all over
• Lid: Mehron Natural Wheat
• Crease: Mehron Cocoa and Espresso
• Lid Outer Third: Mehron Black
• Upper Lashline: Mehron Black
• Lower Lashline: Mehron Espresso
• Brows: Mehron Cocoa

For the nude lip, those of you who follow my blog a lot will probably able to guess what I did. Yes, it's Revlon's Just Bitten Balmstain in Honey! It's a slightly pink nude, but I prefer that. With my small lips and my age, I need some contrast between my lip color and my skin color.

I used my Mehron neutral eye palette for this, and I finished the look off with my black felt tip pen liner, the Maybelline Eye Studio one, which is my favorite at the moment. I'm finding as I look at my pictures I notice I like how this looks, and without it, my eyes just don't look finished.

I have started using Revlon Colorstay Oily/Combination Skin Foundation in 220 Natural Beige. Not only does this color match my skin way better than my Tarte Maracuja Oil foundation, or any of my BB creams, but this seems to have a more seamless look on my skin. It doesn't seem to move and get patchy or settle into lines like other foundations I've tried. And it's a drugstore foundation. I love it!

I like using Mehron Cocoa on my brows when I'm using the other shades from that palette on my lids. It gives the eye look a nice unified feel. Plus I find shadow and an angled brush help me get a more natural but well-defined brow.

I'm going to The Makeup Show LA this weekend. I'll be there at 9 or a little before on Saturday, so I hope to see you there. Remember you need some kind of pro credential to get into this event. I had a great time at this last year, so I'm really looking forward to it. I just figured out that Viseart is going to be there, so I may walk away with this long-lusted after item, the Viseart Eye Palette #1, a favorite of Nickie Tutorials, whom I adore. I also want to pick up some Inglot, some Make Up For Ever, and so on, and hopefully I won't go too crazy. The deals are awesome, and the vibe can be intense.

So that's it, Beauty Fans! More 30 Day Makeup Challenge stuff coming tomorrow!

Love, BeautyJones

30 Day Makeup Challenge: Day 8, Natural Eyes

Today's Challenge look was a natural eye look using my trusty Mehron palette. I used Natural Wheat on the lid. This time I mostly used Toffee in the crease. It's more of a cinnamon color. I also used Cocoa in the crease, and on my brows. Because this was supposed to be natural, I didn't put anything more than Espresso from the Mehron palette on my lash line, along with some Jane Iredale mascara in Black Ice.

Hope you like! Let me know, as always in the comments below!

I avoided shimmer at all because of the theme, but I really prefer it. How about you?

<3BeautyJones

30 Day Makeup Challenge: Day 7, Crazy Eyeliner

For this challenge I tried my Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Turquoise. I must say, I just love how this looks, especially with some warm-toned blush and lipstick. The felt tip is super easy to control, and unlike some felt tip liners I own, this one is super pigmented and sticky in a good way. Very easy to use. I'd love to try this same look with an emerald green liner.

Here is what I used:

Face:

• Tarte Maracuja Foundation in Light
• Maybelline Fit Pressed Powder in Light

Cheeks:

• Sleek Makeup Face Form in Light - contour, highlighter and blush. The blush is a decent dupe for Nars Orgasm, and it costs half the price but you also get an excellent contour and highlighter. I love Sleek Makeup!

 Eyes:

• Mehron Natural Wheat on Lid
• Mehron Cocoa and Espresso in Crease and Outer V
• Eyeko Skinner Eyeliner in Turquoise
• Stila Forever Your Curl mascara
• Anastasia Brow Whiz Pencil in Ash Blonde

Lips:

• Too Faced Lip Insurance
• Revlon Just Bitten Balmstain in Rendezvous - just tapped it on
• Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum - just around the edges and corners of my lips to create some dimension.

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