Makeup Wars: My Favorite Cream Shadow.

After missing a few of the most recent Makeup Wars challenges, I am glad to be back and participating in this one. That's because we are talking about a favorite product again; this time our favorite cream eye shadows.

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with cream eye shadows. I have tried a lot of them from many different brands. Every so often, I get this weird reaction where my eyes get puffy when wearing them. After starting to get the same reaction from gel liners, in which they were all dark colors, I sort of have it figured out. I don't have an allergic reaction to the product itself, I have a reaction to certain pigments. I think. I still have to question this because I have never had a reaction to any of the cream shadows I have used from MAC.

Now, MAC has a few different cream based shadows: Paint Pot, Cream Colour Base, Pro Longwear Paint Pot, Metal-X Cream Shadow and Paints (which was my very first cream shadow ever). Out of all of those, my favorite, which I am officially declaring my favorite cream shadow is...

I really like the rich, creamy formula of the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot. It is easy to work with and blend with other shades to get the eye look I want. The cream dries down to a beautiful pearly glow. It never fades, or creases and lasts beautifully on my eyes all day. To apply, I use the MAC 242 shader brush. I gently brush the color over my eye, and then blend them all out with an airbrush concealer brush.

The Pro Longwear Paint Pots that I have pictured are from the brand new MAC Breaking Beauties collection. They are so pretty and I have been using them all together for a soft, spring eye.

MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot: Eclair, Fancy Frosting, Let's Skate!

I use Let's Skate! (the pale pink with shimmer) all over my eye, and then add Fancy Frosting (the frosted white) to the inner corners of my eye and finish my lid with Eclair (the light golden brown). They sell for $18.50 each.

I can't wait to see what the rest of my blogger friends have chosen as their favorite cream shadows. Click though all the logos below to see them all.

Makeup Wars: Color of the Year Emerald Green.

Pantone officially declared Emerald Green as the color of the year. In case you wonder why you are seeing so many fashion items and accessories in green lately, this is why. While the makeup community might be a bit behind (except Sephora because they already have a Sephora + Pantone Universe Emerald Green Collection), many brands have quite a few green products in their regular line. These green products are quickly becoming popular; green nails and green smoky eye looks are popping up everywhere!

While I tried to concentrate on emerald green for my picks, I just couldn't find many products that fit the emerald green description. I like to think of my picks as "emerald-ish" green. When searching my stash, I quickly discovered that I have no emerald green nail polish - or even anything close to it. What I do have though, are quite a few green eye liners and green eye shadows. These are my favorites.

EMERALD GREEN EYE LINER

1. MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil - 16L Green
This pencil glides on with a medium yellow green sheen. It's very smooth and lasts until you take it off. $18.00

2. NYX Slide On Pencil - Esmeralda
This silky soft pencil applies very easily making eye lining easy. It feels more like a shadow crayon than a liner, actually. The color is a lighter emerald green with a bit of shine to it. $8.00

3. COVERGIRL Queen Collection Vivid Impact Eyeliiner Pencil - Jade
This intense waterproof liquid pencil is an easy to apply and smudge eyeliner that has a built in smudger. The color is an emerald-teal shade of green. $9.99

4. Anastasia Covet Waterproof Eyeliner - Vert
This thin eyeliner is waterproof and pretty much budge-proof once you apply. Smudging is not really an option, so it has to be applied carefully. The color is a deep smoky moss green. $19.00

5. Clinique Quickliner for Eyes Intense - Intense Ivy
This quickliner is a very precise eyeliner that applies well and smudges easily with the built-in smudger. The shade is a real darkly pigmented ivy green, almost like a black green. $15.00

6. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil - Covet
The pencil formula is one of my favorites as it does just what says; it glides on like butter and lasts all day. In face, you need to use an eye makeup remover to get this long-lasting liner off. The shade is a beautiful emerald green with a bit of silver sheen to it. $19.00

7. MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Liner - 4 Diamond Lagoon Green
This is a waterproof liquid liner that applies easily with the precision brush. Like all of the Aqua products, this one goes on and stays on. The shade is a sparkling bright blue-ish green. $23.00

8. Laura Mercier Kohl Eye Pencil - Antique Jade
This kohl pencil offers a thicker tip and was actually formulated for lining the inner rims of the eyes. I use it as a regular liner and have used this color for years. Antique Jade is a dark, almost khaki green shade. $20.00

EMERALD GREEN EYE SHADOW

1. NARS Duo Eyeshadow - Misfit
As one of my favorite shadow formulas, this eye shadow is super silky, highly pigmented and very long wearing. The shades include an ecru shimmer and a true emerald green shimmer. $34.00

2. Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Theory Shadow Block - Bionic
This shadow trio contains three shades; a true emerald green and two complementary shades. The green actually looks beautiful with the white shimmer and bold blue, which I like to use as a liner. The formula is very silky and lasts all day. $26.00

3. MAKE UP FOR EVER Eye Shadow - 168 Iridescent Lagoon Green
This truly emerald green shade has a bit of soft emerald green shimmer to it. It's a super soft powder that applies beautifully. $20.00

4. Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour - Jungle
This creamy eye shadow applies like a dream. It goes on so easily, lasts all day and never creases. I love the different smoky effect this dark olive green gives. $24.00

5. L’Oréal Paris Infallible Eye Shadow - Endless Sea
This super soft velvety formula glides onto lids and lasts through everything. Endless Sea is a pretty teal green with a jewel tone look to it. Not exactly emerald (they do have a golden emerald in the collection) but pretty enough and very wearable to be mentioned. $7.95

6. bareMinerals Prime Time Primer Shadow - Racing Green
Made to be an eye shadow primer to intensify a loose powder shadow look, I like to wear it alone. The creamy formula applies with fingertips and leaves a soft wash of color that adheres to the lid. Racing Green is a shimmery emerald green/gold shade. $12.00

7. Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer - Peacock
This highly pigmented, soft shadow contains beautiful, subtle shimmer in a great soft emerald green shade. I wore this shade or another very similar Clinique shade when I got married. I am sure there was no super shimmer formula then, but the color I remember well. $15.00

8. bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 2.0 - The Winner Is...
The mineral powder shadows are super silky and long lasting, not to mention good for you with the mineral infused formula. The duo contains Chart Topper, a shimmery gold and Hit Single, a shimmery light emerald green. $20.00

9. Laura Mercier Sateen Eye Colour - St. Germain
This luxurious sateen shadow looks like silk when applied, but feels almost creamy as it is applied. It is easy to blend as it wears well with no creasing all throughout the day. The shade is a light golden emerald green that looks different depending how the light catches it.

10. Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint - Mighty Moss
One of my new favorite shadow formulas in an easy to apply stick comes in this great jeweled dark green shade. The color payoff is soft, hence the tint name, yet beautifully colored and very long-lasting. $16.00

11. bareMinerals Eye Color - Oz
This long lasting, loose mineral powder formula can be applied wet or dry, depending upon the look you want. Oz is a vibrant emerald green. $14.00

12. MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Cream - 22 Emerald Green
This super pigmented, long-lasting formula offers a very rich, full on waterproof color. This a golden emerald green shade. $23.00

Check my Makeup Wars blogger friends and their Emerald Greens.

Makeup Wars: My Vacation Makeup Bag.

Many of us bloggers who battle it out in Makeup Wars are either on vacation or are heading out on vacation soon. We are a traveling bunch! I am, in fact, headed to Florida tomorrow. I cannot wait for 6 days at the beach!

I am usually a serious over-packer when it comes to makeup, but this time I am keeping it light; very low maintenance. I plan to do not much more than relax at the beach and go out to dinner, so I figured I could do a simple makeup look that will go with everything. I also wanted to fit everything into this cute M∙A∙C Archie's Girls Just a Flirt Makeup Bag. The bag is super durable, long enough to fit a full sized brush, yet it takes up very little space in my already jam packed suitcase. I do "carry on" so the liquids will be in a quart sized bag inside my handbag. Luckily, all of my skin care and hair care is already in Florida at my home away from home or carrying on would not be possible. If I had to bring those with me, packing would be much different.

I'm pretty proud of myself for how much I have streamlined everything and am soley bringing the basics.

Face
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer
MAKE UP FOR EVER Pro Finish Powder Foundation
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer
Urband Decay NAKED Flushed Palette

Eyes
Urban Decay NAKED Basics Palette
M∙A∙C Pro Longwear Eye Liner in Rich Experience
COVERGIRL Clump Crusher by Lashblast Mascara
It Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Brow Pencil

Lips
Maybelline Color Whisper Lipcolor in Lust for Blush
CHANEL Glossimer Allégorie

Brushes & Tools
Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
Anastasia Slanted Tweezer
It Cosmetics Blush Brush
Laura Mercier Pony Tail Brush
Laura Mercier Crease Brush
Sephora Airbrush Concealer Brush

Hopefully these basics will get me through. If not, I'll have an excuse to head to the Galleria where there is a Sephora, Neiman Marcus and Macy's.

I can't wait to see what my blogger friends take on vacation with them.