Wet N Wild 2% Milk

So after wearing Bite The Bullet, I had to head out and see what other Megalast polishes were out there. I was very intrigued about the nice off white creaminess that is 2% Milk so I decided for $2 I could give it a shot. And I love it far more than I could have anticipated. This is three coats, it looks a little more opaque in real life but I definitely still see my nail line. It's a fantastic palate cleanser, especially considering how blah I've felt about a lot of the colors I've worn lately. It feels clean and elegant and refined. I love it.
Any other Megalast polishes I should go looking for? I'm loving everything about this line right now.

Urban Decay Feminine Palette Review and Swatches

Continuing on with my Urban Decay palettes, we have the Feminine Palette. I have the old school, cardboard packaging and I definitely prefer it to the new zip around Feminine Palette. I actually got this on clearance from the Urban Decay website for like $12.

I got this palette, besides because it was super cheap, but also because the packaging was so cute and I thought it would be a good travel palette. It's probably the least used of all my Urban Decay palettes. I do like the colors but invariably, I have to pull out another palette to feel like I can get a full look out of these and that kind of defeats the purpose for me. I still really do enjoy it when I pull it out though.

I believe these are actually Urban Decay's old eye shadow formula. They are quite buttery but the second and third shades, SWF and Midnight Cowboy, are chunky and a touch hard to work with. They kind of pill up. I love Aquarius every time I wear it. It's just a really nice light aqua color. Darkhorse is actually one I have in another palette.
So, like I said, not my favorite but I do pull it out time to time. Urban Decay does excellent palettes and I feel like this one misses the mark. Anyone else have major disappoinment with an UD palette, despite all the hype they get?

Wet N Wild Bite The Bullet

My first Wet N Wild polish to share! I got the two that I own when Sam was here but I'm really tempted to get some more. This is Bite The Bullet. It's in my favorite color family, the slightly grey toned, putty purples. It's the lighter, brighter, more purpley cousin of Below Deck and Foie Gras. Formula was pretty good, great considering this polish was only $2. I did two coats but after really examining it, I probably should have done three. And the wider brush takes a bit of getting used to but ultimately, I loved it. I was doing some searching for other colors in this line that I might want and I came across this post from Nouveau Cheap about Wet N Wild adding 40 new shades! I'm beyond excited and definitely will be picking up a few more of these!
So how about it? Do you like the Wet N Wild Megalast polishes? Have you picked up any of the new ones? Do you have a favorite color family like I do?

My Vera Bradley Collection

I am not, and never have been, big on most things related to clothes/shoes/bags. But when I was pregnant with MonkeyToes, my sister introduced me to Vera Bradley and I've been basically obsessed ever since. I can understand that they aren't everyone's cup of tea but I love my Vera bags. There are so many pretty patterns and so many bags to meet anyone's needs. On the downside, they can be quite pricey, so I don't have that many but they are fantastic quality.

My very first Vera was the Baby Bag in Peacock. My sister gave it to me as a baby shower gift and until very recently, I used it every single day. It's big and roomy and has pockets for everything. It really is a fantastic baby bag and it will probably continue to serve as MonkeyToes' overnight/longer stay bag.

I recently upgraded to the Mom's Day Out in my favorite new shade, Plum Crazy. Toddlers require less stuff so it's nice to have a smaller bag that fits our needs a little better. It still has lots of pockets to hold all the little things. Plus it's got a cross-body strap which is definitely my preference when it comes to bags.

You've already seen one of my smaller Vera's before. My mom got me the Mini Hipster in English Rose for Christmas. It's a nice mini purse for just the essentials. I also have the Strap Wallet in Rhythm and Blues. It fits into my baby bags but has a cross-body strap for when I'm by myself and left my Baby Bag at home or something. The zip pocket on the back holds my phone and keys. Speaking of keys, when I saw this years summer items, I knew I had to get the Seashore Keyring in Sun Valley because it's shaped just like a turtle. It's bigger than expected but it definitely makes finding my keys easy.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Vera collection. Does anyone else like Vera Bradley as much as Jenn and I do?

China Glaze Grape Juice

I was feeling a China Glaze mood so I decided to pull out one of my favorite summer collections from them, Summer Days from summer 2009. This is Grape Juice. In natural light, it's more of a bright purple but in low/artificial light it's definitely more of an amethyst. Grape Juice is what China Glaze calls a glass fleck, which to me just looks shimmery, almost like a foil and nice and glossy. It's a pretty color but I'm not really over the moon for it. Thankfully, I didn't really have a choice on wear time. Two days after I put this on we went to Ikea and bought a bunch of furniture. It chipped pretty bad during the marathon 8 hours we were putting things together.
Speaking of which, I got a Helmer for polish storage! I'm absolutely thrilled with how perfect it is for polish storage. We also got bedroom furniture, which I had mentioned all the way back in October. Would anybody be interested in seeing our home projects and posts similar to that one, every once in a while? All of our projects are really picking up steam (which is part of why I'm working hard on my no buy) and it's so so exciting!

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Review and Swatches

My favorite eye shadows, hands down, come from Urban Decay. They are always buttery, easy to use and just plain awesome. I have four palettes from them and it's high time I showed them some bloggy love. Two of them are discontinued and two have been talked to death in the beauty community so you may not discover anything completely crazy and new in these posts. Still, I'd like to give each one it's own chance in the spotlight as they really are quality products.

First up is Naked Basics. This little palette is the newest in Urban Decay's Naked line, released during the last holiday season. I really resisted getting this for a long time. I kept telling myself you have other similar colors scattered through other palettes, just make do. But I had a coupon to Ulta plus a lot of points racked up so I allowed myself to get it.

And you guys, this is legit. I'm in love. It's better than I imagined. First of all, on it's own, you can get a multitude of great neutral looks. My favorite is simply Walk of Shame all over the lid, Naked 2 through the crease and Venus as a highlight. I also love using Faint either as a liner or to deepen up the overall look. Same with Crave!
But the thing I love about Naked Basics most of all is that it's a great sidekick to basically every other palette I own. These shades fill in the gaps that other palettes might have. I rarely ever want an eye look to be all shimmer but so many palettes are lacking a good matte or at least satin finish shade. This is so convenient to pull out and add that one shade you need to complete a look.

Of course the quality of Naked Basics is typical Urban Decay. Every shade is pigmented and buttery smooth. They blend fantastically. These swatches are on bare skin, no primer. I know my swatch of Foxy looks lackluster but it's so so close to my skin tone (inside my arm, not on the lid).
Honestly, this palette deserves all the hype that surrounds it. Even if you aren't much of a neutral wearer, these shades are basics (hence the name) and will help along any look. The quality of Urban Decay eye shadows makes $27 a bargain for shades you will reach for constantly. I haven't done my makeup without this since I got it.
What do you think of Naked Basics? Are you curious to see what the other three palettes are? ;)

Zoya Reagan

My very last Zoya polish to share! This is Zoya Reagan. Reagan is a beautiful berry pink cream. Actually, if you have Revlon's Raspberry Pie Lip Butter, that's exactly what Reagan looks like. I'm surprised at how fantastically spring like this feels, considering it's not a pastel.  Not the most easy to work with formula but really not that bad either. This is two coats plus my trusty Insta Dri top coat. Normally I'm not one for pinks, but I'm so so happy with this color. It just makes me feel all bright and cheery inside!
I hope my swatches gave you some ideas of what you'd like to pick up from Zoya. I don't purchase from them very often but there are always at least a few on my lemmings list.