BSB: Beauty news, makeup swatches and pictures, nail polish articles, makeup tutorials, product reviews, and how-to's from a MAC-trained makeup artist.

TOUCH ME. TEASE ME. TANTALIZE ME. (I'm not flirting with you - it's the new LORAC collection!)

Action shots coming soon. Meanwhile, check these beauties out!

 

LORAC Holiday Box Office Sensation – Sephora Exclusive Limited Edition Train Case

Every year, as the last Halloween pumpkin sits on the stairs among a litter of costume remnants and candy wrappers, I sit back and breathe deeply.

It's my favorite holiday. Fun for kids. Fun for grown-ups. And other than the scramble to get the right costume and stock the bowl with the good stuff (read: not raisins or generic bubblegum), it's low-stress.

It's also the beginning of the holiday season, isn't it? At least for me, a busy mom on a budget, it is! Ya gotta stretch those paychecks to magically include holiday menu items and decorations, gifts and stocking stuffers, and ya gotta start soon!

Holiday makeup kits and palettes are a great way to give someone a lot of fun for a comparatively reasonable price. If you can swing it, it's also a good way to flesh out your own stash, if you want to.

The other day I showed you the holiday offerings from LORAC. Here's a closer look at the Sephora-exclusive "traincase". Really, even though it's shaped like a traincase, I consider it a ginormous palette since it's all set in the case and you can't take anything out or put anything else in. Misnomer aside, it's a fun kit with a lot of neutral, warm, and cool options in varying intensities.

It's going to make holiday shopping and traveling a lot easier, and I'll take all of the help I can get!

Perfect for traveling, it's got eye shadows for soft looks, playful ones, and even a bit of smoke. Three blushes also give a few choices, and your lips are covered, too. The case is silver and faux croc (burgundy), with black satin trim inside. A healthy-sized mirror fills the inside of the top.

The makeup is in three layers, all of which swing out from the center to reveal the layer underneath. The top layer is all shadows, mostly warm-toned. The next layer is more of the same but with cooler tones. The final level is where the cheek and lip colors are hiding.


Never 100% happy, I have a few holiday wishes. One, I wish the satin trim were something else. It holds the shadow fall-out. Two, a little drawer in which to stash eye and lip pencils and a brush or two would have been helpful and made this case nearly perfect. Otherwise, I love it.

The lid wants to close, but it's not as bad as the LORAC: Private Affair Palette palette. There's a strap that keeps the whole thing together (well) with a magnetic snap. The levels swing easily, though not so freely as to make me concerned that they'll rip off at some point.

And I love that the "portion sizes" are all generous. No wimpy stuff here!

Ya wanna see some swatches?

LORAC Holiday

• TIE DYE FOR LIP GLOSS – set of 5 lip glosses that have a trio of colors swirled together to create one-of-a-kind shades.  They are packed with powerful antioxidants like Acai Berry and Pomegranate to keep lips nourished.  $22.50
  
  

• BOX OFFICE HIT – ULTA Exclusive Limited Edition Full Face Palette with everything you need to create natural looks for day and sexy, smoky party looks for night.  The palette contains 12 eye shadows, 2 eye liners, a blush,

• BOX OFFICE SENSATION – Sephora Exclusive Limited Edition Train Case to make every girl feel like a makeup artist!  The kit includes everything you need for your eyes, cheeks and lips including 36 eye shadows, 3 blushes, 1 bronzer and 9 lip colors.  The set is a great deal for only $56 (with a $660 value!).

Amazing.

 

Smoke gets on your eyes - three "looks" with LORAC Private Affair palette

So you probably just read my review for LORAC's Private Affair pallete, which is a gorgeous burgundy faux-croc case housing 6 soft smokey shades. If not, go read it. We'll wait for you here. ;)

After the jump are three "looks" I did with the palette.

LORAC: Private Affair Palette - a smokey eye palette (pictures, review, swatches, look)

Makeup palettes are hot this Fall, aren't they? They're everywhere! I've been looking for ages for the perfect eyeshadow palette: it would have a few neutrals, a great taupe (my favorite!), and one or two darker or accent shadows.

Take a look at LORAC's new eyeshadow palette, Private Affair. It seems to fit the bill, doesn't it?!




Keep reading to see swatches, more pictures, and read the review!

Sunday Savings | 9.6.09 | LORAC, BlueFly, Sephora, Nordstrom, C&C California, OCC, Benefit, Bath & Body Works, Lancome, philosophy

Click the images below to visit the sites and take advantage of the savings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINALLY - LORAC's website is live!

I am a great big fan of LORAC cosmetics, and I'm pleased to see that their website is (finally!) working. I have been checking back periodically, and am so glad to have this site to go visit and drool and order products! YAY!

Now if only they'd make that gloss I love in something other than a discontinued palette... but that's for another day. :)

The site shows the newest collection, a page of best-selling LORAC products, some LORAC behind-the-scenes imagery, and Red Carpet Tips - natural content for a company that bills itself as "The Red Carpet Authority". And that they are, led by founder and celebrity makeup artist Carol Shaw (LORAC is Carol spelled backwards).

By the way, the site is currently offering free shipping on orders over $75.

Go to the site. GO! What are you waiting for!?