It always seems like we only have two seasons here in the South- HOT and not so hot. Sweater weather sounds like a dream come true after dealing with the long, hot, drought of a summer that we've had. The OPI Venice Collection for Fall 2015 kind of reminds me of southern weather because half of the collection seems to be made up of colors I would wear when it's warm outside and the other half has colors I would wear when its chilly. I know OPI always includes transitional shades for their seasonal collections but this one doesn't seem to have a cohesive theme and just feels like 2 collections combined into 1. It kind of reminds me of when I got an iced Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks the other day because I wanted something fall-ish but it was way too hot outside to have a warm drink. Nevertheless, I like a lot of the shades in this collection overall and it's always exciting to see some unique shades (like I Cannoli Wear OPI, A Great Opera-tunity, and It's a Piazza Cake).


I cut my hand when I dropped a glass bowl in the sink RIGHT BEFORE getting this collection, so I hope you don't mind the swatch sticks! I'll try to insert actual nail swatches after publishing, especially for the red shades. The first six swatches are of the lighter, transitional shades and the last six shades are the darker, more fall appropriate shades. Most of these shades have a good formula that applies well in two coats. The only exception is My Gondola or Yours, which can get streaky and sometimes needs 3 coats. Descriptions in italics come straight from OPI.

• I Cannoli Wear OPI: My heart belongs to this pale, creamy gray. 
• This color is so unique and I can't think of any other nail polish shades that are similar to it. I didn't like this on my skin tone at first because I'm not used to the muted chalky color but it's definitely grown on me. I was surprised at how good the formula is- no streakiness at all!
• Be There in a Prosecco: I'm living in the moment, and in this opaque creme. 
• This is a brighter nude (on medium tan or darker skin tones), perfect for when you want to wear a neutral that still has some pop to it. 
• Tiramisu for Two: I totally "dessert" this sweet coffee cream 
• This is more of an actual nude for the gals that like an understated shade that doesn't wash you out.

• A Great Opera-tunity: "Aria" ready to wear this gorgeous melon?
• This muted melon is perfect if you want slight wash of color- not too plain, bright, or dark.
• Purple Palazzo Pants: I've searched far and wide for this lovely lilac.
• A muted, pastel lilac that looks similar to OPI's Lucky Lucky Lavender at first glance but has a notable difference once side by side (LLL is much pinker).  
  
• Gelato on My Mind: Deliciously sweet and icy-cool pastel blue. 
• I knew this would be the first color I'd use from this collection as soon as I saw the promo pictures. It looks very similar to Essie's Mint Candy Apple and Blossom Dandy but I think Gelato has a much better formula.

• It's a Piazza Cake: Choosing this persimmon creme is as easy as pie.
• This shade screams AUTUMN! It reminds me of the brownish orange color that you find in stereotypical fall decorations. Personally, this is my least favorite color in this collection and I don't see a lot of my clients and other people gravitating towards it but there aren't many colors like this out there so it's still a good one to have in the collection.
• Gimme a Lido Kiss: Pucker up for this saucy, red shimmer.
• It's hard to tell from my photos, but this color is brighter than Amore at the Grand Canal and has a micro shimmer in it that makes it look extra shiny after topcoat. It's also a good shade of red, not too bright and not too dark.
• Amore at the Grand Canal: Let the romance flow in this ravishing red.
• I feel like I have to get super specific with red shades because there are so many in the market so here I go... This is a blue-toned, medium/dark red creme. I really like this one and I want a lipstick in this EXACT shade.

• Worth a Pretty Penne: Flaunt your fashion "cents" in this shimmery copper.
• This is a pretty copper with silver micro glitter in it. The copper makes this neutral enough to wear glitter everyday, even in a professional setting. It reminds me of OPI's Gelcolor A Real Show Copper, which is great because it was a limited edition release and had no matching regular polish.
• O Suzi Mio: This delicious shade of eggplant is all mine!
•  I love all deep, dark colors and this one is no exception. I definitely see myself wearing this a few times during fall and winter.
• My Gondola or Yours?: Let's cruise the canals in this luscious black. 
• At first sight you'd think this was just a plain ol' black but it is much more than that (I couldn't capture it well in photos). It's a super dark charcoal that is basically black but what justifies adding this to your collection is the barely there hint of shimmer that is only noticeable in the sun.   

What are your favorite and least favorite shades in this collection? Let me know your thoughts by leaving me a comment down below. Thanks for reading and Happy Almost Fall! -XOXO

• amika un.Done Texture Spray (full size $24): Styling spray that gives hair effortless, tousled volume, loads of shine and a dreamy scent.  
• This gives me good volume without making my hair feel hard or greasy and I LOVE the scent of it. I would definitely consider buying the full-sized version of it, which is a pretty big deal for me since I have NEVER bought anything from the actual Birchbox website. (Shocking, I know!)

• COOLA SPF 30 Organic Makeup Setting Spray (full size $36): Weightless matte-finish mist that sets your look, hydrates skin, and blocks UV rays. 
• This is such a perfect product for summer days in the sun! I assumed it was yet another hair product at first sight but I quickly got excited about it after reading my info card. It sprays out as a fine mist and dries quickly. I'm not sure if it actually makes my makeup last longer but that is an added bonus after the benefits of SPF 30 and hydration.   

• Macadamia Professional Weightless Moisture Leave-In Conditioning Mist (full size $22): Made with nourishing plant oils, this leave-in spritz detangles strands and prevents breakage.
• I have been spraying this product all over my hair as soon as I get out of the shower and I really like it so far. It sprays out as a super fine mist and smells soooo good! It doesn't leave my hair feeling greasy at all but I wouldn't recommend using it on second-day short to medium hair. It also claims to work for all hair textures (including baby fine hair) and it's color-safe and free of sulfates, parabens, and gluten.

• stila look at me liquid lipstick in venizia (set of 3 $20): This creamy formula glides on like a gloss yet lasts (and lasts and lasts) like a stain.
• I was the most excited about this product when I opened my box but became quickly disappointed once I tried it out. It does not do well on me and is very drying and settles into every single line on my lips. It also applies patchy. I really wish it was a creamier formula because the bright reddish orange color is perfect for summer. But it is definitely long lasting because I had to really scrub my lips to get it off! A lot of people seem to like this product so *fingers crossed* that I'll find a way to make it work.

• theBalm cosmetics Balm Desert (full size $21): A blush and bronzer in one, this velvety powder gives a long-wearing, fresh-from-the-beach glow. 
• This product is long-wearing and has good pigmentation. It is a great shade on my medium skin tone and has a slight shimmer finish that is perfect for a sun-kissed look.

Let me know if you've tried any of these products and tell me your thoughts on them (I am open to advice on using the stila lip stain)! I love seeing what others get in their Birchbox so leave me a comment below so I can check yours out! XOXO

• Hotter than You Pink (repromoted from Neons 2014): Just when you think pink can't get any hotter, there's this! This hot pink reminds me of Barbie pink. It has a slight blue pearl finish when you look closely but it's not noticeable on the nails. 

 

• Can't hear Myself Pink!: No, I can't turn down this shimmery, metallic pink. This medium bright pink contains tiny metallic silver shimmer and has a thin formula which applies very sheer with one coat and needs three coats to erase visible nail lines. 

• Down to the Core-al (repromoted from Neons 2014): The beauty of this brilliant coral goes beyond skin deep. I would consider this shade a true coral with a frosty finish.

• Life Gave Me Lemons (repromoted from Neons 2014): This citrusy lemon-lime hits the spot every time! This shade is a creamy yellow that sometimes looks more green indoors. Be careful with application because this one can be very streaky. I can usually get away with applying coats without letting them dry in between but I have to be patient with this one.

• I Sea You Wear OPI: Look who's loving waves of shimmering metallic blue. This electric blue contains metallic aqua shimmer and has a similar finish as Can't Hear Myself Pink. It's crazy how different this looks going from 1 to 2 coats. When clients pick this one out they say "Oh, I don't think I like this. It's too sheer!" but the second coat usually changes their minds. I think it looks even better with 3 coats. The sheerness of the first coat makes this a good polish to layer on top of others.

One coat on top of My Car Has Navy-gation

One coat on top of Life Gave Me Lemons

 

• The Berry Thought of You: I think, therefore I wear... this delicious berry. This is one of my favorites in the collection! It is a bright berry fuchsia with a nice creme finish. It seems like more of a fall color but is on trend with a lot of red carpet looks this summer.

 

• My Car has Navy-gation: I would re-route my whole day for this gorgeous navy blue! This shade is a rich, bright navy creme. It applies a little darker than it appears in the bottle. (I had to really adjust the exposure to show how it looks in real life.)

• I STOP for Red: This red is so hot, it's got to be illegal! This shade is a very orangey red. It has a jelly formula and needs three coats to hide nail lines.

• On Pinks & Needles: Can't wait to wear this splashy hot-pink glitter! This glitter has a clear base with multi-sized hexagonal glitter flakes in it. The biggest flakes don't like to lay flat so try to keep it off the curves of the nail. (Shown on Life Gave Me Lemons and The Berry Thought of You.)

This is going to be a super quick post because I wanted to get out my thoughts on the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops ASAP! I am basing my review of this product on a generous sample I got at Sephora. I won't let myself purchase the full size yet because I just spent my budgeted makeup money on the NARS Sheer Glow foundation and have to save for birthdays, graduations, and Mother's Day coming up. I haven't seen too many people talking about it, especially people who have a similar skin tone as mine. The workers at my Sephora didn't know much about it and completely missed the fact that it isn't a foundation and it's unlike any other product out there.

Anyways, the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops is a brand new, innovative product that is a concentrated liquid pigment that you use to transform any beauty product into the perfect shade and coverage level that you desire. Just add a drop (or more depending on the amount of coverage you want) to face oil, serum, moisturizer, primer, or even foundation to create your ideal formula. It is NOT meant to be used by itself, otherwise the intensity of the pigment can end up making you look like a mannequin (and not in a good way!). I think this is a really good product for anyone, especially people who have trouble finding their perfect shade and makeup artists who really like experimenting and customizing.

*Stock photo from Sephora

Cover FX has done an amazing job with this product and earns bonus points for releasing this line with a really good shade selection: 24 total (4 pink undertones, 13 neutral undertones (deep shades included!), and 7 golden undertones). Even more bonus points for Cover FX for actually including a dropper with the bottle to make life easier! The Custom Cover Drops costs $44 and comes with 0.5 fluid oz. which sounds like a small amount but you only need a couple drops  each time you use it so it should last a while!

So far, I really like mixing 2 drops of the shade G40 with my Glo Therapeutics Oil Free Moisturizer and Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. This combination gives me a perfect natural, lightweight finish and the primer keeps me (relatively) shine free and poreless all day long. Next, I will try it with a sheer coverage product like the NARS Sheer Glow or a tinted moisturizer to see how well it adds coverage and how the combination performs. I haven't had any sun so far this Spring so I think I will pick up the shade G50 since I tan so easily. I think going a tad darker will be more useful for mixing it with winter foundations and moisturizers and sunscreens that have a whitecast to them.




If you've tried this product let me know what you think about it and what you like to mix it with by leaving a comment below!

These are the most moisturizing matte lipsticks that I have discovered so far. They glide on like butter with a high intensity color payoff and have a minty scent. I can get away without reapplying all day (but not gonna lie, I always do after eating). The only faults that I can find with this product is that it feels tacky when I press my lips together and settles into fine lines after drinking and eating. I think the tackiness helps with the longevity of the lipstick so it's tolerable. And to prevent or get rid of the creasing, I run my finger over my lips to smooth it out (I also do this when I want more of a stained lip instead of a super bold one).


Suede Matte Crayons
I love lipstick crayons and this one is no exception! Most of the lip crayons that I own are twist-ups but Glo's Suede Matte Crayon is sharpen-able AND comes with its own sharpener in the cap AND a pick to clean out the sharpener. I love this practical and functional feature. It can get really difficult to apply a highly pigmented lipstick with a blunt point. But I can easily get a precise application without having to use a lip liner. These remind me of a better (and less expensive) version of the NARS lip pencils. The shades that I have are Sorbet and Bombshell.

Sorbet is a bright berry fuchsia. I LOVE this color! I got so many compliments on it at work and while I was running errands (a convo about my lips and this brand started to hold up the line at Trader Joe's!). If you could only get one of these then I would definitely recommend this shade!


Bombshell is a orangey red shade that has an almost metallic sheen to it. I didn't think I would like this shade because I usually stick to deeper reds but it will be great for Spring!
 



Suede Matte Sticks 
For some reason these seem a little more moisturizing than the suede matte crayons. The color glides on beautifully and doesn't have the tacky feeling that the crayons do. They also seem to last longer but unfortunately still settle into the fine lines on my lips. I'll have to try these out after using a lip primer like Glo's Lip Filler Pencil and see if that solves the problem. The shades that I have are Port and Punch.

Port is a beautiful, vampy red wine color. I was obsessed with this type of color throughout fall and winter but I will definitely still incorporate it into Spring looks!



Punch is a bright corally pink color that doesn't really suit my skin tone and naturally dark lips but would look gorgeous on lighter complexions or anyone with lighter lips. My sister and I are almost the same skin tone but she has pink lips and I have mauve/brown lips so colors look totally different on us! (Sorry, I don't have a photo showing how it looks on me because of this reason.)


Shade Swatches (from left to right): Suede Matte Crayons in Sorbet and Bombshell and Suede Matte Sticks in Punch and Port.

I love facial masks but find myself rarely having extra time for them. (I feel like I'm doing really well if I properly wash my makeup off.) My favorite types of facial masks are peel-off masks and mud masks. I love peel-off masks because they are fun to remove and it feels like I am literally pulling all of the bad stuff out of my skin. I love mud masks because they help absorb excess oils and deep clean my pores. I always use a mud mask whenever I have a few blemishes or I feel like my skin is starting to break out.



I recently tried the Dead Sea Mud Mask from Pure & Essential Minerals and it gave me instant results and made my skin feel really clean and refreshed. It contains over 21 essential minerals from the Dead Sea, which is known for containing natural skin healing properties. This product is certified vegan, cruelty free, and 100% natural and organic (it's always good when I know what each ingredient is). I definitely see this product becoming part of my weekly routine!

Ingredients: dead sea mud, organic shea butter, organic sunflower oil, organic aloe vera juice, organic vegatable glycerin, organic jojoba oil, hickory bark extract, organic calendula oil, filtered water, xanthan gum, eucalyptus oil.

Quick thoughts on the Dead Sea Mud Mask from Pure & Essential Minerals:

• has a minty sulfur scent (definitely all natural)
• dries quickly (5-10 minutes)
• feels refreshing and doesn't overly tingle/burn
• takes a while to wash off
• but doubles as an exfoliating treatment
• skin looks brighter and feels softer after rinsing 
• does not leave my skin dry
• love the jar (tubes are so messy!)
• comes with a lot of product; enough for 30+ treatments

How to use:
If you're not lazy like me then you can fully cleanse your face, pat it dry, and then apply the mask to your neck and face. I don't ever feel like washing my face multiple times and drying it out, so I just remove my makeup with a makeup wipe and apply a medium layer of the mask all over my face. After letting it dry for 5-10 minutes (until it hardens), I rinse it off with warm water and use circular motions to really exfoliate my skin. Pat your skin dry and follow with moisturizer and whatever products you use in your nightly routine.




3 benefits of using Dead Sea Mud Mask by Pure & Essential Minerals:

1. Dead Sea Mud Mask Removes Dead Skin Cells - the natural silica found in the black mud hardens on the skin once you apply the mask. This step allows the mask to extract toxins and impurities located deep in the skin layers, and also to attach to dead skin cells. After washing it all off the result is clear looking skin, with clean pores and even skin tone.

2. Dead Sea Mud Mask Can Help with Acne - thanks to its therapeutic effect, this mask is a real life saver if you suffer from acne, black heads and breakouts. Pure & Essential Minerals Dead Sea Mud Mask contains natural minerals like magnesium, calcium, sulphur, bromide, iodine, sodium, zinc and potassium, which are known to treat, detoxify, and cleanse the skin.

3. Dead Sea Mud Mask Stimulates Circulation - when blood circulation is poor it leads to an uneven skin tone, patches on the skin, and may even cause wrinkles. By applying a weekly facial mud mask you can dramatically increase blood flow to your skin cells and achieve a healthier and plumper looking skin.

I would definitely recommend this mud mask if you are in the market something new. I wouldn't say it's a holy grail product but I've gotten good results from it. You can find it on Amazon for $24.77. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own and 100% honest.

As a person who is always on the go, I love a good multi-tasking product. My interest is always piqued when a product claims to be able to do more than one thing. So when I was sent Paula Dorf's Perfect Color in the shade Ecstasy to review, I got excited by its 3-in-1 claims to perform as a blush, eye shadow and lip color in one product.

What the brand says:

This versatile multi-tasker performs triple results: for eyes, lips and cheeks. Light and creamy in flattering shades. Convenient and portable for on the go application. The variety of looks is infinite, and the effect is always natural and luminous. Directions: Use Perfect Color to create subtle shimmering accents, dynamic highlights, or dramatic contours. 

Ingredients: 

Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Dimethicone, Diisostearyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Propylene Glycol Laurate, Silica, Beeswax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Ozokerite, Nylon-12, Microcrystalline Wax, Octyldodecanol, Cetyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Retinyl Palmitate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Water, Propylparaben, Ascorbyl Palmitate.  May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Mica, Carmine, Chromium Oxide Greens, Ultramarines.

My thoughts:

The Perfect Color comes with a sleek matte black design in a twist-up tube. The shade Ecstasy is a very pigmented cool-toned shimmery pink. A little goes a long way on my cheeks. I love how this shade makes me look more youthful and glowy. I like to apply it by pressing it onto the apples of my cheeks straight from the tube and blending it out with a blush kabuki brush (like Bellange's Beautiful Blush and Bronzer brush). I love this product for my cheeks but it is very drying on my lips and I don't like wearing pink shades on my eyes. This means it is not a successful 3-in-1 product for me, but I will continue using it as a blush because it's long lasting and wears beautifully. I think this shade could work for most skin tones as long as light skinned girls don't get too heavy handed.

Paula Dorf's Perfect Color retails for $32 and you can purchase it from their website here. For a limited time, they are offering a gift with purchase if you use the code ECSTASY at checkout. Paula Dorf is also kicking it up a notch by giving readers the chance to win a GIVEAWAY of a makeup kit full of their favorite products. Enter here for a chance to win their $125 value makeup kit.

***This product was sent to me for review purposes. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.