Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette Review

I hope you are all ready for this, because it's time for a joint product review!

We all know I have an Hourglass Cosmetics obsession, so when a new blush palette appeared on Sephora's website in September a screen capture found it's way to Ashleigh's inbox.

We both HAD to have it...there was no question about it. As with many hot products, Sephora gave a pre-release to VIBR members. The palette sold out so fast once it was released to VIBR members that we missed out. While waiting for the October 1st release we watched for product reviews and videos. 

We could not believe how mixed the reviews were! High pigment, no pigment, great for all skin tones, only good for very fair complexions...the list went on. I did some digging and found a video on Ambient Lighting Blushes from JoshCollierMUA who works for Hourglass. The product is a true 50/50 mix of high pigment blush and ambient powder. As a swirled and baked product there will be variations on your blush to powder ratio as you work through the pan.

With that in mind, the moment the palette was released on October 1st we ordered it. The fun part? We BOTH would be getting the palette delivered on the same day. I admit I was quite happy about that. If Ashleigh had gotten it first I'd cry!

Now that we've had two full weeks to use the palette here are our thoughts and swatches.

Cranberry Crush & October Makeup Challenge Update #3

Finally... I know I promised this post would be up on Tuesday, but time got away from me!

A couple of weekends ago, my Brother came home from college for the weekend and I went to my Mom's house to see the family. My Mom is one of those people that teases me for never wearing makeup, so I made sure to spend the time to do a full look that day and I was really happy with the way it turned out!

Let's take a look at how I did it!

October Birchbox Review

It's time for a

post!

I'm really excited for this month's subscription box reviews, and here's why.

The past few months, almost everything in my Ipsy subscription was a no go. I was allergic to 90% of the products I got. The few things that were okay were not worth the $10/month to me. After waiting for two more months to see if things would get better I ended up canceling my subscription.

Sad? Yes, but it meant I was able to sign up for a new box! Soon my first Julep Maven box will ship and I'll have a review for you all.

As always I love, love, love my Birchbox. If you're thinking about joining a subscription box it's the one both Ashleigh and I recommend first. You can join here.

Let's see what I got this month!

Urban Decay Master Class & October Makeup Challenge Update #2

Double post today! I forgot to do my October Makeup Challenge update yesterday, so look for it at the end of this post! For now though let's talk about the fun event I got to go to this morning! 

A couple of weeks ago on a shopping trip to my local Ulta, the cashier told me about an upcoming class at the store. A local Urban Decay make up artist was going to be coming in and teaching the Urban Decay Master Class before the store opened. She asked if I wanted  to sign up. Well of course! I haven't been able to attend one of the Sephora classes yet, so I thought this would be a fun thing to do and would give me a chance to learn hands on with a make up artist.

The class was today and let me tell you, it was definitely worth getting up early on a Saturday! The store opens at 10am so the class started at 9am, ours started a little late though. When I arrived they had little stations set up and the Ulta artists were going around color matching everyone to the UD Naked foundation. 

Top Two Tuesday - Setting Powder

Welcome to....

the setting powders edition!

If you're like me, you turn into an oil slick halfway through the day. That also means you know how important setting powders are. This step is also crucial for setting my under eye concealer.

Let's get started shall we?

Revised Skincare Routine

Hey everyone!

I'm sure you've all wondered where Frantic Fridays and other look posts from me have vanished to. Well, the answer is simple. My skin freaked out on me. My trusted skincare products that never failed? They were all failing! 

That's when I started to search for new products, and most of them just made it worse! Products targeted for combination skin like mine would take away too much moisture and products to rehydrate made my skin look like I'd just stepped out of a sauna. It was aggravation after aggravation.

After a long trail and error process I finally found a combination of products that made my skin feel and look better than I ever thought possible. I wanted to share them with you while my skin finishes recovering from the chaos.

We're on Instagram and Birchbloggers!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let you (and Ashleigh, hehe) know that we are now on Instagram. You can find us @urbanarcadia

Today I also received confirmation that Birchbox has added us to the Birchblogger network. How cool is that?! It's like we're starting to become official or something crazy like that ; )

Keep your eyes out for our Twitter handle and *crosses fingers* the start of our YouTube channel.

~Amanda

October Makeup Challenge - Update #1!

So since October ends on a Friday this year I figured that it would be good to do my weekly updates on Fridays.

First things first, I have to address the obvious question. Did I wear makeup every day since Wednesday? Answer?

YES!

So HA! :-P 

It was surprisingly easy to get up early on Wednesday to start getting ready. I actually enjoyed doing my makeup that morning as I watched How I Met Your Mother. It was nice to use some newer/less used products and I was pretty pleased with the look. Some of the products I used were the Naked Basics 2 palette, and the Lorac Behind the Scenes Primer.

On Thursday it was a little harder to get up, but I was excited about a particular look I wanted to do. I had watched a tutorial for an Emily Thorne inspired look and was really looking forward to trying it out. It was really simple with a bright red lip and I love how it turned out. 

Today, Friday, I had a really hard time getting up. I just wanted to sleep forever so I snoozed for way too long. I got up in enough time to throw on BB cream, a blush tint, concealer, and mascara. It was makeup, it was on my face, it counted alright!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to show you. I did take pictures every morning to send to Amanda so she's my proof that I did in fact do the makeup, but I don't even know what "photogenic" means at 7 in the morning. Maybe I'll try to re-create one of the looks and do a tutorial post for you all.

Until then, look for Top Two Tuesday's Setting Powder post and the next update post next Friday!

<3 Ashleigh