LORAC Private Affair Palette - $38 at sephora.com

LORAC is well known for their awesome and luxe palettes (Multi-Platinum is my personal fave), and they've introduced a brand-new one for Fall 2010; Private Affair. This palette consists of 6 large shadows ranging from seashell pink to amethyst-studded black and includes a small bottle of their new eyeshadow primer and a mini brush.

The shadows are typical LORAC; smooth and buttery and crazy pigmented. The only issue I ever have with their shadows is that they tend to not be very densely packed and kick up a lot of dust while you load up your brush, but this has never stopped me from using them. I'll review each shade individually after the jump.

The new primer, Behind the Scenes, is wonderful. Besides the fact that it's in a squeeze tube (makeup goddesses be praised), it's a light and creamy formula that applies easily and seamlessly while allowing for the best blending over a primer that I've ever seen. The staying-power of shadows is great over this primer, I'm psyched to say.

The palette itself is a little bulky, though gorgeous. The burgundy faux-croc (or at least I think it's croc) covering is very luxe, and the black satin and chrome-like badges on the palette are beautiful. There is a drawer on the side of the box that slides out to reveal the primer and the brush, and it's very thick which makes it a bit cumbersome, but you can also put a couple extra potted eyeshadows or something in there for traveling to make it seem a little less useless.

Click for swatches and shade reviews...

Urban Decay Naked Palette - $44 at Ulta.com

I'm sure that the manic frenzy for this new Urban Decay palette hasn't escaped your attention if you shop for makeup online, read beauty blogs, or belong to any of the number of makeup forums out there, but in case you've managed to avoid the mental chaos, let me introduce Naked. Having been in stock several times on sephora.com, and selling out almost immediately each time, it's obviously well-loved. It's reported to be a permanent addition to the UD lineup, but that hasn't stopped people paying prices in excess of double retail on eBay (gack!). It's now in stock at Ulta.com, and if you're lucky you might find one at your local Sephora. As of right now, it's slightly difficult to get, but hopefully that won't last long as it's an amazing palette. I drove a 130 mile round-trip to a Sephora because after calling around they were the only Sephora even relatively close that had it. They had one left and held it, and I still counted myself lucky.

The deal with this palette is that it includes 12 full-size shadows, two mini liners in the form of a double-ended pencil, and a mini Urban Decay Primer Potion all for $44. Considering that UD shadows are $17 each for a single, this is a crazy deal. That's not all that makes this palette amazing... In every UD palette I've ever owned, there seems to be at least one or two glittery shades which I never use, but every one of these twelve are smooth and glitter free. There are mattes, satins, shimmers and frosts, but no glitter! With twelve shades of neutral shadows ranging from ecru to steel, you can create any number of flattering and varied looks that go from day to evening.

If you'd like to see the swatches and review, keep on reading! Click for more...

Cover Girl LashBlast Fusion - $8.99 at drugstore.com

I was a big fan of the original LashBlast; I felt like it really made my lashes voluminous and lovely. I don't normally go for length in a mascara, I'm more into clean glossy volume, but a new LashBlast begs to be tried, so I did. First off, the purple tube is so pretty. I really liked the orange, but the purple is even prettier. The bulk of the packaging can be a little annoying, but it certainly stands out in a crowded drawer of mascaras. The applicator is just like the original in that it's got the rubber spikes on a thick wand. The spikes gradually fade into nothingness length-wise the nearer to the top you go, which can make it tricky in those inner corners, but I've been able to manage OK.

The application is lovely, and it smooths onto the lashes without any clumps at all. It adds a bit of natural-looking length, while beefing up my lashes and making them a bit fatter. It manages to do all this while maintaining the clump-free texture, and it allows you to build coats well if you're looking for a more dramatic look. It's a little uncomfortable at the base of the lashes, but not nearly as bad as some other rubber-spike-laden wands I've encountered before.

Overall, I love the application, the way it makes my lashes look, the packaging, the price and the fact that it doesn't rub off under my eyes. Granted, I don't usually have the raccoon eye problem no matter which mascara I use, unless I'm using the wrong undereye concealer at the time, but this doesn't have any smudging tendencies on me at all.

Click for a before and after photo

Korres Wild Rose Powder in WRP2 - $28 at korresusa.com

Here's my fourth foray into the Korres Wild Rose range of products, let's see... I assume this is a finishing powder, but I can't find anything on the site or on the packaging to tell me that unequivocally. After using it, however, I sort of feel like it's more of a light-to-medium coverage foundation. It felt a little too heavy on my skin over foundation.

Click to read more...

Korres Wild Rose Foundation - $30 at korresusa.com

This is the third product I've tried from the Korres Wild Rose range of products, and it's been my favorite so far. Granted, the other two were skin care, but still, this foundation is blowing me away. First of all, I like that Korres products are natural. It makes me feel like I have less to worry about when it comes to adverse reactions and permanent damage to my skin. It's still possible for your skin not to agree with even natural products, but that's more of an individual issue that you really need to read the ingredients and know your skin to anticipate. If you're looking to fill your makeup stash with more natural options then you might be interested in looking into Korres.

If you want a deal, until May 20 you can get 25% off your $35 order with the code BEAUTOPIA, and don't forget to enter to win the Korres Blush in Pink!

Click to read more and see photos...

Korres Natural Collection Eye Palette - $35 at sephora.com

Sephora has the exclusive on these new eye palettes from Korres and they're purty. There are four different palettes to choose from, and I received the Natural one to review for you guys. Overall, I like the palette... There are things that I like about it and things that I don't, but the positives outweigh the negatives.

If you want to try some Korres products, right now until May 20 you can get 20% off your $35 purchase at korresusa.com! Code - BEAUTOPIA

Click to read more and see photos...

Korres Zea Mays blush in Pink - $24 at korresusa.com

I'm a blush fiend, and I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that. I have an entire craft drawer devoted to blush alone. There's just something about it. Even though truthfully so many look the same on me there's just something about a giant pan of beautiful pristine color that speaks to me. Among my favorite brands are MAC and Cargo, and now that I've tried this Korres blush, I feel like I'm going to need to start a second drawer.

Before I go any further I just want to mention to you guys that at KorresUSA.com you can get 20% off your $35 order with the code BEAUTOPIA. This code is good till May 20, which will be great for Mother's Day and for self-gifting if you catch my drift. I'll be getting my mother-in-law some stuff and some things for little ol' me might find their way into my cart...

Additionally, three of you are going to win a Korres Zea Mays Powder Blush in Pink! Read on to see how...

1) Be a follower of Beautopia on Google Friend Connect OR On Sugar. You can find those boxes to the right of this post.

2) Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Korres product. If you haven't tried Korres, which product do you want to try the most?

3) You can tweet the following: "Follow @BeautopiaBlog and win a Korres Zea Mays Powder Blush ($24 Value)! http://bit.ly/cjb0c6" You can tweet daily, but please comment here and leave each tweet link. Sometimes tweets get lost and I want to make sure that if you take the time to tweet, that you get every entry!

This giveaway will end at midnight on 22 May and is open to only US residents because it is brand-sponsored. I'm sorry I'm neglecting you international beauties again, but I promise there's good stuff for you on the horizon!

Click for more photos and the review!

Sephora PURE Natural Believer Palette in Star Gazer - $15 at sephora.com

Please click the photo above to see the palette in more detail! Last week I posted about another one of these awesome palettes, in Island Sunset, and I like this one nearly as much. These palettes were originally about $36 but then were marked down to $15. So during the 15% off sale at Sephora I picked them up. I am so glad I did. First off, as I said before they are purported to be made of recyclable metal pans, sustainable bamboo and no less than 95% natural ingredients. I was afraid that since these are "all natural" and "pure" that staying power, texture and color pigmentation would suffer, but they don't. I am exceedingly happy to be able to tell you that these six shadows and blush are smooth, soft and packed with color that sticks around pretty well. The shades are beautiful and range from cool to neutral, as opposed to the warm shades of the Island Sunset palette.

Like the other palette, the packaging is attractive, includes a large mirror and includes all the shade names on the back of the palette, which is hard to come by in a pre-made palette, especially such an inexpensive one. The textures again range from buttery mattes, to lustres, frosts and satins. All are blendable and pack a punch whether it be in shimmer or pigmentation. Click to read shade descriptions and see swatches...

Sephora PURE Natural Believer palette in Island Sunset - $15 at sephora.com

During the 15% off sale at Sephora I picked up two of these palettes from the Sephora Collection. These were originally $36 or something and then they were marked down to $15 and had remained there for quite a while. I don't know how long they'll stick around, especially at this price, because they're really nice. Each palette contains 6 shadows and a blush and are packaged in sustainable bamboo and recyclable metal. The Sephora PURE line is all made of ingredients that are at least 95% natural and at least 10% organic. If you're into natural beauty, then you might love these. I found that the quality matched, and in some cases exceeded, the quality of some of my other favorite eye shadow brands. Both palettes that I got contain at least a couple dupes for either Urban Decay or MAC shadows that I love, so that was also a plus.

The Island Sunset palette is filled with warm tones and gorgeous textures. The shadows range in finish from matte to satin, lustre to frost, and are highly pigmented, blendable, and have decent staying power. The packaging is sleek, compact, eco-friendly, and attractive and contains a decently sized mirror. The shade names are listed on the back as well which is nice for a pre-made palette.

Click for more photos and swatches

LORAC Special Effects Mascara - $22 at sephora.com

When it comes to mascara, I'm so picky that I annoy myself. When it's primer, I'm even pickier. To find both a mascara and a primer in one package that I love would have seemed an impossible feat to me four months ago. I've tried literally probably 90% of the mascaras on the market, high-end and low, and there are a scant few that I would rebuy. This LORAC mascara is on that short list.

The space-agey metallic gunmetal packaging is gorgeous, and very sleek. Inside each end the wands are of the spiky rubber type, and I'm not gonna lie, they're a bit uncomfortable even by spiky rubber wand standards. The spikes make it a bit difficult to get to the very roots without releasing a flood of bad words from the mouth area of the face. If you tightline the upper lashes with a black liner then get as close as you can to the roots it's not a huge deal.

As far as the formulas, the primer is a milky creamy texture that doesn't clump up. It's much more creamy than the Shiseido lash primer and less chalky and fibrous than the Urban Decay version (which I admittedly adore). It glides on nicely and I like to apply the mascara portion to the freshly primed lashes before moving on to my other eye. The mascara formula is very pigmented and viscous without being runny and messy. It smooths over the primer easily and covers well. The end result is that my lashes look glossy and separated and a good bit longer. You can see the results in the eye-of-the-day photo below.

Overall, I really like this duo. It isn't every day that I find a mascara primer that I like, let alone one that comes packaged with a mascara that I like as well. That alone is amazing. The only gripe I have with this product are the wands. I love the rubber wands that dominate mascaras in the marketplace, but the spikes on these are almost too much to take. I really debate with myself some days as to whether I should actually take the trouble to be super careful enough to put it on. It's always worth it in the long run, but it's no fun.

Click to see more product photos!