Mood:  a-ok

Recently, I've been simply bored by my eyeshadow palettes. Since April 2008, I've been using a truly awesome make-up palette from Markwin's cosmetics/The Color Institute. It included:

• 12 lip glosses in pink- and brown-colored based neutral colors
• 4 blushes ranging from bubble gum pink to barely-there mauve
• 16 cream eyeshadows in pale metallics and etheral neutrals
• 12 poweder eyeshadows that read darker than they wear
• 2 super-blendable eyepencils in brown and black
• 2 super-blendable lippencils in plum and coral and 
• 1 passable mascara.

It has been an awesome experience for me. The darker and metallic cream eyeshadows had great lasting power as eyeliners, but faded quickly when applied as shadow. The powders lasted well, but where a little too pale and neutral behind my eye glasses. I barely used the super sheer lip glosses on the left side of the palette, because it gave my mouth a pretty gleam but no color which is what I want from lip gloss. On scale of 1 to ten, I give this palette a firm 7 for being reliable. However, I'm bored with it. It's autumn now and I want my eyes to pop in outrageous colors. Yet, I didn't want to spend a ton on designer eyeshadow brands that I might get sick off in a few months.

As autumn transitions into winter and the season's color palette transitions from rich colors to washed out grays and blacks, I knew that I needed something to keep feeling bright during the long dark days. So, I wandered into one of my local beauty supply shops and found the best and cheapest eyeshadow palettes. For less than $5, I walked out with ten shadows featuring colors like neon pink, deep aqua, neon yellow, and purple. The brand is called L.A. Colors. 

At $1.99 per palette, I was a little nervous that I was going to get crappy quality and a rash. But I was wrong. L.A. Colors metallic eye shadows go on smooth, rich, and bright. They colors are bright on the lids but not as severe a neon as it reads in the package. 

My first and most favorite palette was Tease (see below)