Becca Afterglow Palette

I’m thinking of sitting by the fireplace with a steaming cup of peppermint tea and listening to some soft music. As the flames flicker, hues of orange, bronze and gold exchange hands in a dance…wait, this isn’t the setup of a relaxing fall evening! This is a peak into the gorgeous Ulta Beauty exclusive Becca Cosmetics Afterglow Palette!

This palette is a part of the Becca Cosmetics Holiday 2015 collection and is available at Ulta Beauty stores and website. The palette retails for $39.50 and contains three Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed in Moonstone, Rose Gold and Topaz and two Mineral Blush in Wild Honey and Flowerchild. These bestselling face powders are packaged together in a shiny rose gold palette complete with a nice sized mirror for easy portability.

While the pans are smaller in size compared to the single compact, I had no problem getting my highlighter brush (bdellium tools 945) and blush brush (BH Cosmetics slanted blush brush) into the pans to pick up product. I think this palette is perfect for those who have yet to try the Shimmering Skin Perfector™ and/or Mineral Blush. I also think this palette is perfect for those who have collected any of the highlighters and/or blushes for a convenient bundled package to perhaps travel with.

The Afterglow Palette does not disappoint! It provides the smooth, silky and highly pigmented application of products to cheeks, above and below brow bone, down the bridge of the nose and chin! For live hand swatches check out my YouTube video and pictures below!

Moment of Inspiration: Worth

Worth

You thought I was worth saving, You thought I was to die for…some of the lyrics to a song by Anthony Brown and Group Therapy called “Worth”. This song is quite popular having laid claim to the #1 spot and now is currently #2 on the Billboard Top Hot Gospel Song charts! A well deserved achievement because it is a prolific song that pulls at the heart strings of many, including my own! A profound song that serves as an answer to my heart’s cry and is now a new declaration for my life!

You see, all of my life I’ve looked for someone to validate me and tell me I was worthy! Growing up without my father being a constant in my life caused me to develop a void. This void made me feel worthless. I felt like maybe I wasn’t good enough for my father to be there for me the way that I needed or wanted him to be. And so this void, this need for validation from somebody, especially those close to me, caused me to develop a mindset that hindered me from truly valuing my own worth.

I was looking for somebody to love me enough that they were willing to take care of me, fight for me, protect me and sacrifice for me! I placed those very high expectations on my father, my mother, my husband, sometimes my children and anybody else who said they loved or cared about me! And when these people weren’t able to meet these expectations for me, I cut them off or closed them out! I figured if I wasn’t worth it enough for them to meet my expectations then they weren’t worthy of my time, attention, support and love! Somebody say WRONG!

Here are some things I had to realize:

• When I give of myself unconditionally, it will come back to me! I cannot place conditions on how, if, when and why I am to give of my time, attention, support and love to others. You truly do reap what you sow!
• I have to express to my loved ones what my expectations are! I can’t make the mistake of assuming they should automatically know what I need or want from them. It has been said we teach people how to treat us!
• My loved ones can only give to me what they’re capable of giving. Perhaps my loved ones have voids and issues in their own lives that prohibit them from being able to fully function in their roles. Remember nobody is perfect!
• The only one I should expect to meet all of my expectations, needs, wants and desires is my Heavenly Father! He promised He would be everything that I needed Him to be and He has made good on His promise!
  

He loves me, He sacrificed His life for me, He’s fought for me, He’s taken care of me, He’s provided for me, He’s protected me and He did it all because He thought that I was WORTH it!

Lip Gloss Chronicles: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Gloss

So, I’m starting a new series on my blog and over on my YouTube channel to pay homage to the somewhat forgotten about lip product: lip gloss! Since matte lippies – matte lipsticks and liquid lipsticks – have made their mark in the beauty industry, everybody and their mama is all about that matte lip life! I mean, don’t get me wrong, matte lips are gorgeous and I’m slowly but surely adding some of these delectable delights to my collection, but let’s face it, I’m a lip gloss girl! So, I decided to dedicate a series featuring some of my favorite lip glosses by brand, starting with Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Gloss!

I absolutely fell in love with these glosses because they provide a creamy, full body color with a high shine! This gloss is highly pigmented, very moisturizing and the sheen ranges from a subtle to vinyl shine - my kind of product! It’s like having a two-for-one deal: the pigmentation of a lipstick and the shine of a lip gloss! I initially purchased four of the colors, but just recently four more colors arrived in my collection! And...more colors are will end up in my collection for sure! Yep, that’s how much I heart these glosses!

Some quick facts about these glosses:

• Available in 34 shades (Nine new shades will be added soon)
• Available at Macy’s Impulse locations,  Macy's website and Anastasia Beverly Hills' website
• $16/each for 4.5 g/0.16 Oz.
• Pink, red, orange, purple and vampy colors are available
• Smooth & creamy formula w/full color coverage high gloss sheen
• Non-sticky & lightweight
• Butterscotch scented; tasteless
• Flat, doe-foot applicator
• Cream & metallic finishes
• Can be worn alone or layered with other lip products

Needless to say, I highly recommend you picking up one, two or all thirty-four shades to add to your collection. Even if you’re not a complete lip gloss junkie, I’m sure out of the range of colors available you can find something that suits your fancy. I have the colors: Metallic Rose, Gilded, Purple Rain, Venom, Orchid, Peony, Vintage and Runway Red. Take a look at some pics of those babies below:

ABH Lip Gloss Packaging

(l to r) Gilded, Venom, Metallic Rose & Purple Rain

(l to r) Gilded, Purple Rain, Metallic Rose & Venom

Venom Lip Swatch

Purple Rain Lip Swatch

Metallic Rose Lip Swatch

Gilded Lip Swatch

(l to r) Orchid, Peony, Vintage & Runway Red

(l to r) Runway Red, Vintage, Peony & Orchid

Vintage Lip Swatch

Peony Lip Swatch

Orchid Lip Swatch

Runway Red Lip Swatch

So I write...

Happy New Year, says the girl the next to last day of January! We're well on our way into 2015 and I most certainly pray this year is filled with God's greatest blessings for me. And, when challenges come I pray that I am strengthened through and beyond them! My prayer for you also is to experience blessings you won't have room enough to receive!

The year of 2014 certainly had its share of challenges and losses for me. One of the things I lost in 2014 was my desire to write or express myself through writing. You see I have always had trouble expressing myself verbally as I did not acquire the gift of being quick-witted. It takes me a little while to get past my emotions and articulate how I'm feeling. I used to, well, I still get a little frustrated with myself concerning this, especially in the midst of an argument or heated discussion. I think of things I should have said after the fact! So I write!

Writing gives me the time I need to process my thoughts and express them freely without being interrupted or misunderstood. So I write! I'm very sensitive, always have been, and I can cry at the drop of a hat. The song says, "Big Girls Don't Cry," but I say yes we do, however I prefer not to display my vulnerabilities to too many. So I write! I'm naturally shy so writing allows me to stay behind the scenes. I dread standing in front of people to face the many facial expressions and stares. I'm getting better at being out front since I minister in song before people just about every Sunday, but I still have a ways to go! So I write! Ultimately writing is therapy for me. I feel it is never good to keep your feelings or thoughts bottled up inside, especially discomforting feelings or feelings that could fester into something detrimental to your growth and well being. I often find myself not being able to share these feelings with many because of past hurts, so outside of God and a very select few writing allows a much needed release. So I write!

I invite you to go with me on this journey as I pray something good comes out of it for you and for me! I'll share and we'll grow together through inspirational thoughts. Oh, I'm also going to share with you my love for beauty products, you know makeup, hair care, skin care and nail care products!

So for now and until the next post...you keep it beautiful and I'll keep inspiring!