I left the office early today (don't tell my boss) ... and stopped by Sephora to swatch some eyshadows.   I tried several different brands/palettes, and I must say that the one I like the most was the Shadow Insurance Policy High Impact Shadow Colletion (say that ten times fast...lol)   I use their shadow primer and really like it, and the shadows are great.  They have a smooth, velvety texture, and are very pigmented.   Hands down, this was the best of the five brands I tried (in this order):

1.   Too-Faced  (pretty colors, smooth texture, stays on, and not too pricey)

2.   Nars - (gorgeous color choices, velvety texture, good natural looking colors)

3.  Urban Decay (not a big fan, good for color choices, but not enough neutrals, IMO)

4.  Makeup Forever (okay, but Nars is better)

5.  Stila (chalky, ashy colors, don't stay on well, costs too much for the quality of product).

I swatched the Too Faced colors to give you an idea of what they would look like (on darker skin)  in order from left to right:  Full Frontal, Lucky Charms, Skinny Dip, Glamazon and Socialite.  (I didn't swatch Boy Toy, because I didn't really like the color for me... but it was pretty for a lighter skin tone.   Do you have this palette?  I would love to see different techniques for wearing these colors.  There are a million ways to wear them!  

Well, I made a trip to the MAC store in the Domain today to check out the new Hello Kitty Kouture compacts with the Sheer Mystery Powder in them.  They were pretty, but I spent my money on some shadow colors that I needed instead.    I've found that I gravitate towards frosts and shimmers rather than mattes.  I'm not sure why...but I really need to work on getting more matte colors in my palette.  I picked up these four, in hopes that they can be something I would wear daily (to 

work).  I actually really like the colors I chose;  The highlight color I can

 really do without, because I have a similar color in my palette already, but I'll keep it... just because :)

Colors :

Embark (matte)- Intense reddish brown - I used in the outer corners of the lid and crease.

Antiqued (veluxe pearl)- Ash brown w/bronze - (used for inner crease color)

Honey Lust (lustre) - bronze dipped peach - (highlight color)

Tempting (lustre)- Sinfuly rich cocoa (lid color)

FYI ladies, 15% off sale going on at Sephora now through March 7th. The discount code is J89LM