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You’re Destined for Fame (and Fallout) with the Smashbox Be Discovered Holiday Palette

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smashbox be discovered for holiday 2011

I doubt Hollywood’s even looking for a short, sassy Filipino chick without any acting experience to star opposite Ryan Gosling in an upcoming romantic comedy, but if, perchance, I’m ever stopped by a famous director at Petco and asked to play the wind beneath Ryan’s wings, you can bet I’m putting down those 20 cans of gravy, girl, because we’re going to Hollywood! 🙂

Logic places the chances of this happening somewhere below 0.000001%, but ya never know… Maybe the new limited edition Smashbox Be Discovered palette (about $60, from the new Snappy Holidays 2011 collection) will improve my odds.

smashbox be discovered box

Maybe…?

Okay, well, a girl’s gotta have dreams, and if yours happen to involve holiday kits brimming with color, Smashbox would like you to consider this: the 66-piece Be Discovered palette, with its four mini-makeup brushes and shades for eyes, cheeks and lips. At $60, it works out to less than $1 per piece.

Not too shabby, tabby.

For more on the Smashbox Snappy Holidays collection, check out…

The bulk of the pieces in the palette consist of products for eyes — 45 powder shadows and nine cream liners, to be exact. That’s more color than a girl could shake a blending brush at!

But (there’s always a but), like the eyeshadows in the company’s Click You’re It palette, also out for holidays, these like being babied. Some of them require lots of layering to show up on my tan skin, and more often than not, I also end up sweeping away a considerable amount of fallout.

A few thoughts on the rest of the kit…

  • Cheek Products — My favorite pieces in the palette! The Bronzer, Blushes and Soft Lights Highlighters apply smoothly with commendable color, yet despite being packed with pigment, they remain easy to blend.
  • Cream Eyeliners — I like the soft, dreamy lines I’m able to draw with these, as well as the variety of colors, but some of them migrate when I forget to pat a powder shadow on top.
  • Lipglosses — Preternatural pigment and a three-hour wear time for the win!
  • Mini Brushes — They get job done, but I wouldn’t depend on them for everyday use (unless I had a crush on scratchy bristles).

smashbox be discovered
The Smashbox Be Discovered kit: click here to see more product pics, and here to see oodles of swatches
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Lush’s Latest Shower Jelly Shows That Jilted Elves Don’t Always Make the Best Shower Buddies

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Lush Jilted Elf

Well, Jell-O there! I’ll be right with you… I’m just taking a shower with Lush’s new Jilted Elf.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to wash with (and wiggle) Lush’s latest shower jelly. As a chronic new product junkie, especially when it comes to bath stuff, I knew I had to give this bright green blob a try.

lush the jilted elf

lush the jilted elf

I’ve never used anything quite like it before…at least not as an adult! 🙂 It has a gelatinous consistency, and to use it, you can either jiggle the entire green glob out of the jar (weird!), or dig out goopy globules with your fingers. I chose the later, scooping out a small amount.
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A Smashbox Holiday 2011 Face of the Day with the Click You’re It Palette

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Because Smashbox bestowed numbers upon the pans of powder eyeshadow and cream liner in their new limited edition Click You’re It kit, following the included tutorial card for the “Golden Smolder” look this afternoon was a little like painting by numbers.

But not exactly. It was like a weird class combining math and art…and I’ve always kinda struggled with one of those disciplines, LOL!


Click You’re It is part of Smashbox’s new Snappy Holidays collection

I got a little carried away with the olive green eyeshadow, No. 15 in the palette, so my version of the look turned out more green than gold. I like the outcome, but it definitely didn’t go exactly as I’d planned.

Since the shadows in the palette aren’t highly pigmented — I’d give ’em about a six on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being “amazingly pigmented” — I ended up having to do quite a bit of layering. And it was a good thing that I had some makeup wipes nearby, too, as I experienced some wicked fallout with the green shadow.

smashbox holiday 2011: a be discovered and click you're it face of the day
Eyes and lips are from the Smashbox Be Discovered kit, also from Snappy Holidays
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With Their Latest Lip Kit, Benefit Asks, “Won’t You Take Me To … Glossytown?”

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Wearing Benefit Ticket To Glossytown Lipgloss in Foxy Lady

Wait — it’s November already? How the heck did that happen…? Just a few weeks till Turkey Day, and then it’s “Welcome to December!”

This month, I’m gonna do everything in my power to avoid last year’s long lines and last-minute gift crunch at Christmas, so I’m trying to wrap up (haha) my holiday shopping by December 1 (we’ll see…).

No more waiting in uncombed hair and tabby fur-covered pajamas for Target to open before dawn on Christmas Eve; no more wrapping presents on my lap in the car and nearly stabbing my thigh with a scissors.

Not this year!

This year I’m starting with the girls on my list, and I think some of them are getting a Ticket to Glossytown.

I know it’s still too early to declare the greatest holiday hits of 2011, but I’m pretty sure Benefit’s $24 set of six adorable mini glosses will land somewhere in the top 10. It features the company’s line of Ultra Shines, and I love, LOVE these glosses!

Rumor has it that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt liked to be buried with these smooth, shiny, non-sticky lippies — so they could use them in the afterlife, of course. 🙂 They’re loaded with long-lasting pigment (last about four hours on me) and crazy moisturizing, too.

benefit ticket to glossytown (5)

benefit ticket to glossytown (4)
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There’s a Snow Fairy Sparkling in This Shower Gel, and My, It’s Lush!

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Lush Snow Fairy

Yes, add me to the legion of ladies obsessed with Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel, babe. I brought it into the shower with me after my run this morning and could not stop sniffing my mane!

Officially, Lush refers to the scent of this shower gel, which doubles as both a body wash and a shampoo, as sweet vanilla, but it reminds me of a cool cross between Mr. Bubble bubble bath and bananas.

Weird, but it works for me.

Oh, and the fact that it’s a pretty pink with sparkles doesn’t hurt. 🙂

Like the Lush shower gels I’ve tried in the past, Snow Fairy rinses clean, washes well and doesn’t leave my skin feeling dry or tight.
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