The Urban Decay Naked Heat palette sprang onto the beauty scene out of the blue and boy is it a good one. The palette launches today on the Urban Decay website but on Sephora in July. I’m sure it’s going to sell out like gang-busters. The entire collection is so unique and the perfect shift away from the other Naked palettes. Prepare yourselves for a serious rave post.
Let’s talk the other products in the line before diving into the palette itself. There are three seriously startling lipsticks in bronze packaging I definitely squealed over in person. It’s the type of packaging you want to put on display. “Heat” is a plum red Metallized shade so it has intense glitter within it. I still don’t understand how a lipstick can pack so much glitter without being chunky or childlike. “Scorched” is also a Metallized shade but mauve toned with more of a metallic finish rather than glittery. Seriously gorgeous and one I’m sure I’m going to reach for when I want to spice up my usual everyday lip.
My favorite of the gang has to be “Fuel” (pictured above). It’s a downright gorgeous nude shade with hints of orange. It’s a Cream formula so it’s incredibly buttery and glides onto the lips without accentuating any dry patches or cracked areas. It’s light on the lips while remaining in tact for quite a few hours before fading away nicely.
Next are the 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils which at first I thought were lip pencils since their shades are unlike anything I’ve considered using for eye liners before. That’s what I really love about this collection. It makes nontraditional shade choices much more obtainable without being too full on. The darker of the two shades is “Alkaline” and what I used in the look below. It’s a very flattering plum shade that blends out into a nice smokey finish. “Torch” is more of an everyday liner with burnt orange tones to help make it look more natural on the lids. Both apply smoothly and blend out without any trouble. I do find that the Urban Decay eye pencils aren’t the best for water lines, but look fantastic used anywhere else.
Now to the main attraction. The palette has a nice thick plastic packaging with the words raised up on the lid. There’s a really quality two-sided brush inside and twelve shades I can’t stop staring at. They’re all so unique, but still so wearable. Plus they’re buttery and pigmented to no end. At first glance I worried a neutral, simple girl like me couldn’t make this palette work, but as soon as I started applying shadows to my lid this palette surpassed the other ones in my book.
Every shade is wearable. They look quite red-toned in the tin, but on the lids look so natural. I built things up a bit more than usual in the look I created for this post, but this palette is more than capable of being for every day. There are five lighter shades that could easily make a great understated eye while the rest of the shades can be interchanged to add a bit of pop.
For this look I used “Low Blow” all over the lid and up to the eyebrows. The I added “He Devil” to the inner corner and a blend of “En Fuego” and “Ashes” to the outer edge. A light brushing of “Ounce” under my brow bone and some more of “Ashes” smudged out on the bottom lash line and the look was done. “Fuel” is on my lips.
I’m seriously impressed with this launch. It’s incredibly unique while still suiting a wide range of makeup styles. Everything is such high quality. If you’re even remotely a makeup lover this palette is a must get.
It’s been a week since we returned from our cruise and the last vlog went live yesterday. Seriously sad times. I’m already craving my next vacation! Enjoy all of the cruise vlogs in one convenient location. And let’s start planning a blog reader/Helloigan cruise soon please?
So there you have it. One amazing trip wrapped up into six vlogs. Now I’m off to Traverse City for some kayaking and celebrating my cousin’s wedding.
Erin Condren’s third seasonal surprise box has to be my favorite. Due largely to the fact that everything inside the box isn’t available on the website yet or is exclusive to the box. I can’t help but get pumped over hard-to-get items. Plus they’re all downright fabulous.
So here are the deets. Boxes are released every couple of months for $35 with free shipping. At first they seemed incredibly limited in quantity, but there seemed to be more available this go around. It’s currently sold out on the website, but you can sign up for notifications on the next one.
The box contained nine different items. My favorites have to be the Oh, What a Week Notepad and the Shine On Clutch. Stationery is what sent me down the path of decorative planning all those years ago so whenever a new notepad enters my life I get super excited. It’s on quality thick paper and has quite a few sheets. I’ve already started using it in excitement. I also feel like no woman can have too many little clutches. I have dozens no doubt but can’t help the rush when another one joins my collection. This one definitely inspires me to clean out my collection so I just have high-quality ones left. I love the rose gold detailing and the logo as the zipper. So plush. So fancy.
The box also had two sheets of stickers that will likely go into my growing collection and remain there, horded. They are gorgeous with foil detailing, but I can never convince myself to use them. The metallic cover is seriously gorgeous and I’ve already popped it onto my planner in a hurry.
For the smaller items there’s a new set of pencils, a small notepad, a turquoise elastic keep-it-together band, and a lip balm. Out of the group I’m most excited about the small notepad of course. The other items aren’t terribly exciting, but round out the box nicely. Plus they’ll make good giveaway items or gifts down the line.
Overall the box is definitely worth way more than the $35 price tag. The clutch alone is $20, with the pencils being $6 and the sticker sheets at $3 a piece. Metallic covers are usually around $13. Plus there are still the two note pads, the lip balm, and the keep it together band not included in the price.
If you’re a fan of Erin Condren or planning supplies in general, this is definitely a great box to try. It’s getting better and better with each release and I for one can’t wait to see what’s in the fall box. There’s also a metallic cover I’ve popped onto my planner already. Check out today’s video if you want my first impressions and a closer look at each product.
It’s been a whopping three days since we returned from our cruise and it honestly feels like we never left. We dove right back into work like nothing had changed. Although I would have much rather stayed out at sea for another year or two, I felt excited to get back to work. It’s a whole lot easier when what you do for a living doesn’t really feel like work, but not all of us can be so fortunate.
I think what truly helped the most at giving me motivation to get back to work after travelling is the fact that I didn’t think about work at all the entire time we were away. It definitely helped that I had no internet or cell phone reception the entire time. It was quite the welcomed social media break that left me feeling refreshed and untainted by trying to keep up with what everyone else is doing. I’m strongly considering implementing social media breaks on a monthly basis. Everything I do for a living is online and I’m never really not working unless I turn everything off.
When we got back within cell phone reception it all came flooding back. We had quite a few orders from throughout the week and everything we had on our plates still remained on our plates. It honestly felt like we hit pause on our real lives for a week. Lovely, but now incredibly daunting.
The best way to tackle anything is to make a to do list. So we did. Then I proceeded to do all the easy things on the list first (classic) and work my way up to the bigger tasks. There’s a saying that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. A bit morbid, but completely true.
The best way to find motivation to get back to work? Thinking about how hard work now means more vacations in the future. That got my butt in gear!
How do you find motivation after a break or vacation?
The cruise ended much too quickly and I’m now back home wondering if it’s too soon to book another one. Although I’ve had a planner during travel in the past, this was the first trip I really hunkered down to figure out a system to document the adventures. Plus I filmed a before and after video to show you what I completed before we set sail and what I added afterward.
My biggest advice for travel planning is don’t complicate things. Keep it as simple as possible. That could mean not bringing any supplies with you at all and doing all the documentation once you’re back. I kept my supplies to a minimum, but probably only took out my planner twice during the entire week. You shouldn’t worry about planning and documenting while on your trip. If it doesn’t happen, don’t sweat. You can always do it when you get back.
Before you leave on your adventure, write down where you’re going at the top of the planner. Just writing out our ports helped me immensely in remembering them even when I didn’t have my planner around. Plus it helps to give your spread an outline during the trip.
Add in what you do know. Leave space for what you don’t. Put in any information from itineraries that you know is going to occur, but be sure to leave room for trip spontaneity.
My favorite thing about travel planning is adding photos. I’m a dreadful scrapbooker, so being able to add photos into my spread helps me get around that fault of mine so I can look back and see what we got up to. It’s a super easy way to round out a travel spread and adds a lot more value to your planner. Decorative planning is basically daily scrapbooking after all.
