Naked Smoky Palette

August 31, 2015August 30, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ 2 Comments

Happy Monday, ladies! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have to say, I was a little on the fence about the Urban Decay Smoky Palette. I was SUPER excited when I first got it in the mail (like, I was afraid to use it, and couldn’t stop looking at it).

My little sister is like a makeup genius (follow her on Instagram! @midwestbeauty15), so of course I needed to get her opinion as well. I had her come over to my place and do my makeup for me for the fall tunic photoshoot, and of course made her use the Naked Smoky Palette. She loved the colors and how pigmented it was. But the first thing she said to me was “this does not blend well at all”. I did agree with her after trying to blend it all together. But then I told her to use a different eye shadow brush, instead of the one it comes with. After that, it blended perfectly (see photos below)!

I decided to use the palette on friday, and give the brush it came with a try again. Of course, I had to same issue. My suggestion is to use your own eyeshadow brush, because other than that, I seriously love this palette. I really love the colors of the eyeshadows. Creating a smoky look is my favorite thing to do, and I love that it comes with a look book of different smoky eyes you can try yourself.

The Smoky Palette is a bit on the pricy side, but like I said before, the colors are really pigmented, so It doesn’t take much to get the color you want, which will make the palette last a really long time. It’s a great investment!

I linked the Smoky Palette HERE. I’m also linking a few eyeshadow brushes that will work perfectly with it, HERE (less expensive, one I used) and HERE (more expensive, high end).

What do you think of the Urban Decay Smoky Palette? Let me know in the comments!

XoXo Valerie

Fall Transition

August 26, 2015August 25, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy hump day! I know some of you are wondering where my Naked Smoky Palette review is, and why this post wasn’t posted on Monday. Well, let’s just say this has been one heck of a week. Last week my mom was having a few health issues that made her be admitted to the hospital for a day and a half, which lead to doctor’s appointments, etc. But now that things are back to normal (and my mommy is okay!), I will plan another day for the Naked Smoky Palette (I promise!).

So, this is part two of the Perfect Tunic! Last week I showed you how to wear this white tunic during the summer, now I’m showing you how to wear it in the fall. Like I mentioned in last weeks post, this is the PERFECT summer to fall transition piece that you must have in your closet!

To make this a fall outfit, I added a black blazer and closed toed booties. I also wore my RockBox set necklaces to add the perfect touch (I will be doing a post on necklace layering with these adorable necklaces next week). Everything is linked below, besides the clutch that was sold out, so I linked a similar one:

Tunic // Jeans // Blazer // Booties // Clutch // Necklace (use code VALERIEBFF89 for your first month free)

What is your favorite summer to fall transition piece? Let me know in the comments!

XoXo Valerie

The Perfect Tunic

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ 1 Comment

Happy Monday, fashionistas! I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. Even though I’m not fully ready to say goodbye to summer, I spent this weekend doing a little fall shopping. I found the BEST deals on jeans (Target had them 40% off!). I will do a blog post on some of my favorite fall jeans later on.

Lately, I have been on the hunt for tops that would transition perfectly from summer to fall. I found this tunic during the Nordstrom anniversary sale, and thought it would be a perfect transition piece. It comes in 7 colors. Yes, SEVEN. The color I am wearing here is Ivory. I eventually would love to have the Olive color in my closet!

For summer, you can pair it with jeans (for chilly nights) like I did here, or a pair of black high waisted shorts (for the warmer days). For the fall you can wear a black blazer over it with a pair of booties (I will feature that outfit next week).

I tagged the exact tunic, jeans and heels. The clutch and bib necklace are currently sold out, so I tagged similar items:

Tunic // Jeans // Heels // Clutch // Bib Necklace

Have a great week, everyone! I will be reviewing the Naked Smoky Palette on Wednesday!

XoXo Valerie

Ultra Matte Lip

August 13, 2015August 13, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Thursday, loves! Can you believe it’s almost the weekend? I have had the worst cold for the past 5 days, and am finally starting to feel better. I literally did nothing all weekend because I felt like my head was going to explode, which means I wasn’t able to shoot any outfit photos. So this week I am going to review a few of my favorite products, and show you guys some of my makeup staples! Including products that I use on a daily basis and you need to have in your makeup bag.

I have been searching for a lipstick that is “kiss proof” for a LONG time. I was beginning to lose hope, then I discovered ColourPop Cosmetics, and their new Ultra Matte Lip. This stuff is seriously amazing. I put it on yesterday at 11:00am, and after eating and drinking all day long, it was still on, vibrant as can be at 8:00pm!

The Ultra Matte Lip comes in 33 different colors. The colors I bought are Lychee (top, violet color) and Sundae (bottom, pink color). The colors I would love to have eventually are Donut, Succulent, Buds, and Koala.

Application tips:
-Exfoliate your lips before you apply the product (it will look smoother)
-Apply with a lip brush (the applicator it comes with works great, but its hard to line the outside of your lips with it)
-Have makeup wipes handy to remove (like I said, this stuff stays on, which means it won’t come off with just water)

This is a lip color I am going to start using a daily basis. Have you tried the new Ultra Matte Lip? Let me know in the comments below!

XoXo Valerie

Workout Time!

August 4, 2015August 3, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday, loves! I hope everyone had a great weekend. My bestie moved about two hours away from me, so I spent the weekend at her new place and visited some of her favorite wineries (this town is FULL of wineries). I had a blast, but I’m so sad she is so far away now. At least it’s an excuse for me to get out of town for a weekend!

I made a goal for myself to start being more active, and to walk/run more this fall (since it’s way too hot to do it now). To get myself motivated, I decided to do a little “fall” workout gear shopping! I’m really bad about motivating myself to workout, so I thought shopping would give me a little boost (and seeing this new gear sitting in my bedroom would haunt me).

To me, the perfect fall workout outfit consists of yoga pants (it’s hard to tell in the photo, but these pants have a light zebra print!), a light weight “dry fit” tee and jacket, and a pair of comfortable running shoes. I bought all of these a little while back, and are no longer in stock, so I tagged similar items!

Top // Jacket // Pants // Shoes

Have a great week!

XoXo Valerie