REVIEW: Lorac Pro Palette 2 + GIVEAWAY!!!

I feel like I've been spending a lot lately. Because I'm addicted to shopping and makeup. It's a serious problem. I swore off of spending after my big splurge at PHAMExpo, but when I saw the Lorac Pro Palette 2 in stock at Ulta, I couldn't resist. My gut was just screaming at me to get it!

For $42, you get 16 shadows - 8 matte and 8 shimmer - as well as a mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer. I'm not a huge fan of this primer, but for those who are new to makeup, it is nice that this palette comes with a primer in case you don't have one yet! 

Let's go straight on to the packaging.

This palette comes in a sleek matte charcoal gray packaging. It's very minimal, making it absolutely ideal for travel! It is a cardboard packaging with a magnetic closure, and nearly identical to the original Lorac Pro Palette, aside from, of course, the color of the packaging itself. 

The shadows themselves are laid out very cleanly, and you can easily tell which shade is which. The upper row consists of creamy matte shades, and the bottom row consists of shimmery shades. 

I'm not a huge fan of the mirror on this palette. Because of the floppy cardboard design, it's pretty much useless. It doesn't stand on its own so you will have to hold the mirror up to your face, but if you're in a sticky situation and this is the only mirror you have, it'll do the job!

Buff: A creamy matte light nude shade, perfect for blending, or highlighting. On lighter skin tones like mine, it would be a great blending color. On more medium skin tones, it would be a nice matte highlight. This shade will probably be too chalky-looking for dark skin tones.

Snow: A white, shimmery color. It is definitely a true white, and would be great for an inner corner highlight. It is incredibly smooth and pigmented, with little fall out. Normally I have trouble getting white shadows to appear on my skin, as they usually turn translucent, but I didn't have trouble with this one at all.

Light Brown: A matte brown shade that would be perfect to define the crease on more natural days. It's definitely a necessity for every makeup collection. It is very smooth and long-wearing.

Beige: A go-to shimmery champagne color. This shade is so buttery and beautiful. It would be an amazing all-over lid color as well as a great inner corner highlight. 

Cool Gray: I would consider this more of a taupe than a gray, but it is very matte with little fall out. Another great color for defining the crease. It blends easily without blending away completely and is very pigmented.

Rose: Probably my favorite shade in this palette (go figure), this is a shimmery rose gold shade that is just so buttery and beautiful.You barely have to touch the shadow to get amazing color payoff. 

Nectar: A matte peachy cream color that would be a nice transition shade. Not my favorite in the palette, as it is a bit chalky compared to the other mattes, but it is still a great shade for blending.

Mocha: This shade is kind of similar to "Rose," but quite a bit deeper and a bit more coppery. Again, an absolute dream to use and super creamy to the touch. 

Plum: A beautiful matte purple, but a bit chalky. It does tend to blend away if you aren't careful, so you will have to layer it up in order to truly get its full opacity.

Chrome: Such a beautiful color. This is kind of similar to "Cool Gray," only shimmery. It's a bit of a neutral brown with a silver sheen, and it's so absolutely stunning!

Navy: One of the most coveted shades in this palette from the second I saw it! This color is very, very pigmented and very, very matte. Because of those two pros, you do get the con of some fallout. Be sure to tap off the excess and use a nice primer and you'll be fine. It blends out to a pretty deep teal color. 

Silver: Exactly how it sounds, this color is just a traditional metallic silver shade. It works best with a primer underneath, and blends nicely without blending away completely. I can only imagine how amazing this shade would look if used wet!

Charcoal: Super soft and buttery and pigmented. Charcoal is pretty much the same color as the palette's packaging. It does tend to have a little bit of fallout, but nothing that can't be avoided by tapping off the excess before applying it.

Jade: Another coveted shade. This is such a pretty shimmery olivey green with just a hint of gold shimmer! This would be amazing for an earthy green smokey eye.

Black: Not the blackest of blacks I've used, but it does the job. This shade would probably work well wet, or to help smoke out any ordinary look. It is a bit chalky so be careful! This is the only repeat shade from the Lorac Pro Palettes.

Cocoa: Probably the most pigmented shade in the entire palette. This color is a shimmery cool brown and it blends like a dream while still staying vibrant! 

Say your prayers, Chocolate Bar Palette. This may be my new go-to palette. This is an amazing addition to the Lorac Pro family, and, from what I've seen, it's better than the original! I love the range of colors in this palette. It's neutral without being boring or traditional (step aside, Naked Palettes). 

Final Thoughts? Yes. Yes yes yes. For $42, you can't go wrong. Each color in this palette is creamy and intense. The "duds" are hardly duds at all, and even the chalkier shades are still creamy and pigmented. You could create a huge range of looks with this palette, and in the end, you're paying less than $3 for each of these shadows! 

- D.

p.s. It's giveaway time! I was a bit unsure on whether or not I wanted to do a giveaway of this palette. However, yesterday when I was playing with it, I realized I just HAD to! I am so in love with this palette, and last night I did a fun galactic-inspired look with it that just shows how versatile this palette really is. It definitely isn't an ordinary neutrals palette! Of course, here's a bad webcam photo of the look I did last night. I plan to do a tutorial of it soon!

 

I promise I was wearing clothes, I was just very hot and humid in my room! ;)

If you win this giveaway, you will receive the Lorac Pro Palette 2 as well as the Behind the Scenes Eye Primer that comes with it!

So here are the rules:

1. This giveaway is international! I will be choosing one winner at random via Rafflecopter.
2. If you are under 18, please get your parent or guardian's permission before entering this giveaway.
3. This giveaway will end on July 30th, 2014, at 12 AM, PST.
4. If you win and have not contacted me back within one week of the end of the giveaway, you will forfeit your prize and it will be given to the next runner up.

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to get your entries!

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Catching Fire Giveaway Winners!

I just wanted to drop in really quickly to congratulate the Catching Fire giveaway winners, Anna and Sarah H! I have contacted you directly through the email you provided in the Rafflecopter widget. 

Please keep in mind that if someone has contacted you asking for sensitive information (such as credit card info, social security numbers, etc), that person is NOT me! I will never ask you for more information than necessary, so that I can send you your prizes.

A big thanks to everyone who signed up, and I'm planning to do more giveaways soon! I was absolutely blown away by the number of people who were interested in the giveaway. Subscribe to my blog via Bloglovin' in order to stay up-to-date with my blog, and to know whenever I have exciting news! 

- d. 

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Johanna Mason's Interview Look + Giveaway!

So now we've come to the final look of the series! This makeup is from the scene when Johanna cusses out the Capitol citizens. She is so gutsy! 

This look was so much fun to do! I primarily used my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette for this look. 

I first started out with an eyeshadow primer. Any primer will do, just something that will really hold onto the pigment. Then, I took the gold color, Creme Brulee, and packed this all over my lid and onto the orbital bone, but not quite all the way to my brows. I wanted to leave an empty space for the highlight color. I did this in a rounded shape. I also applied this color along my lower lashline and smudged it out.

Next, I took Milk Chocolate, which is a cool-toned light brown, and placed this on the orbital bone, into the crease. I also blended this color along the sides of my nose, near the brow, to create dimension. Jena Malone's makeup artists really love to accent her gorgeous bone structure this way! I used a fluffy domed shadow brush for the Milk Chocolate color. 

I then took an angled brush and Triple Fudge, and filled in my brows. I have very sparse brows, so this was a necessary step for me, but if you have great brows like Jena Malone, feel free to skip this step! I took a spoolie and blended out the brow color. I also took this same dark brown color and angled brush and lined my upper lashline, using a pencil brush to add a smoky effect. Then, I took White Chocolate under the brow. 

From here, I moved onto the face, using the same products I have used in every look I do, which you can find in any other makeup look or face of the day post! I also took Milk Chocolate on a fluffy domed brush and contoured my cheeks, as well as my nose. Milk Chocolate is a great contour shade, especially for really precise application. I used "Strawberry Bon Bon" from the Chocolate Palette as my blush. I then applied a light coat of my Maybelline The Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara. I ran a clean spoolie through my lashes to ensure that it was a very light coat. 

Now moving onto the most important part of this look: the lashes! I bought these lashes from Elegant Lashes, and they are the exact style used in the movie. I simply applied my Duo Eyelash Adhesive in "Clear" to the band, let it sit until it was tacky, then placed them underneath my lower lashes. Don't worry if you can see the band. This look isn't supposed to be natural, despite the fact that she's a tree. ;)

For the lips I actually used a cream shadow, which was the Rimmel Scandaleyes Eye Shadow Paint in "Golden Bronze." I used a lip brush to neatly apply it, and I was done!

Now for the big surprise I keep talking about! 

I seriously have had so much fun doing this series, and I have gotten such positive feedback from it. So I wanted to give back to all of my followers! I have decided to do a GIVEAWAY!!! 

For this giveaway, there will be two winners. Each winner will receive a fun Catching Fire prize pack! 

I will be giving away the CoverGirl Catching Fire Limited Edition Nail Polish in "Seared Bronze," as well as the Nail Stickers in "Tawny Flame." I used both of these products in my last Katniss look (but don't worry, you'll be getting these products brand new and still in the packaging). The winners will also receive a brand new pair of lashes, just like the ones I wore in this post, as well as a replica Mockingjay pin! 

So here are the rules:

1. This giveaway is international! I will be choosing two winners at random via Rafflecopter.
2. If you are under 18, please get your parent or guardian's permission before entering this giveaway.
3. This giveaway will end on February 5th, 2014, at 12 AM, PST.
4. You MUST leave a comment below explaining why you want to win this prize pack. You will only receive one entry for this. Multiple posts will not grant you multiple entries.
5. You may tweet about the giveaway once per day. For each tweet per day, you will receive one entry.
6. You may follow me on Instagram! You will receive one entry.
7. You may reblog this post on Tumblr! One reblog per day will get you one entry per day. 

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to ensure that your entries count!

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Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor...

- d.