A Beautyful Sentiment

The Body Shop Relaunches The Originals

The Body Shop recently relaunched a collection of some of their favorite products from the 80's (brought up to date with 100% recycled PET bottles and community trade ingredients) and guess who'll be reviewing them all for you? Me of course! The Originals collection includes a few deliciously-scented body washes (think green apple, peach, etc.), a cool icy blue shampoo, a breakfast-appropriate banana conditioner and even a few great products for face. Review of everything to come shortly!
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Quick UNII Palette MAC Pressed Pigment Rundown

Several of my lovely readers had requested a rundown of the MAC shades contained in my Snow UNII palette so here it is! In the top row we have (from left to right) Dazzlelight (shimmery champagne nude that makes a fantastic brow highlighter), Gilded Green Pigment, Viz-a-Violet Pigment and Fuchsia Pigment, in the middle row we have Naked Pigment, Golden Olive Pigment and Violet Pigment, and in the bottom row we've got Apricot Pink Pigment, Mutiny Pigment, and (my personal favorite) Pink Pearl Pigment. The blush is the only non-MAC thing in the palette, and it's a universally flattering pale pink shade called Sutton Place from DEX.

As you can see, I went through a rather obsessive little pigment-pressing stage some time ago, and if you haven't checked out my pigment-pressing tutorial, please do! It's from waaaay back in the early stages of ABS (in the crappy-camera days), but it's relatively easy to follow and a ton of fun. As for the palette, well you now all know that it's from UNII Cosmetics and I've babbled about all its wonderfulness here.
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UNII Palette Review: Simplify Your Makeup Life

Many of you have been requesting of review of the palettes that I used to pack my makeup goodies for my Cali trip, and now that the weekend is finally upon us I've managed to set aside some time for this post! In a word these palettes are awesome - they're cleverly packaged, come in a variety of fun, vibrant shades, are ridiculously easy to use, and best of all, are super travel-friendly (and make fantastic gifts).

Check out the full review and find out where these palettes are from after the jump!

So where are these fun little palettes from? The clever mind of UNII Cosmetics creator Minna Ha who created the UNII palettes to enable you to combine magnetized products from all different brands into one convenient palette.

The palettes comes in this pragmatic yet cute envelope packaging that opens to reveal instructions on how to depot using a blowdryer (I have yet to try this method but definitely will in the near future) and much much more.

The palettes themselves are just all-around fantastic, albeit a tad pricey at $29 a pop (although worth it in my mind). They come with their own magnetic strips that you cut to size, and unlike the magnets that I purchase at crafts stores, these are actually strong meaning I can bang my palette around without having to worry about things popping out of place. The large, clear interior mirror is indispensable (I whip mine out on the airplane or at work to touch up my makeup and it' so nice not having to peer into some tiny little thing) and the rubberized seal around the edges prevents any leakage, but my favorite aspect of these palettes is the dimensions.

The UNII palettes (pictured in Pomegranate above) measure 3.7"D x 6"L x 0.7" thick - and what really ensures that I use these often is they're just thick enough that you can even pop a few eyeshadow brushes in there. I happen to hate having to carry a separate pouch for my brushes and always end up just using sponge applicators or my fingers for touch-ups, so the fact that I can now just pop a few of my MAC SE brushes or any of my shorter-handled shadow brushes right into the palette is just amazing.

The UNII Palettes are available in Lemonglass (yellow), Eggplant (purple), Snow (white), Pomegrante (pinky red) and Twilight (blue) and they're all just gorgeous. Each shade contains this nice multi-dimensinal shimmer that gives them that extra special something, and there's really a shade for everyone (how perfect is Snow to store your bridal makeup?).

Check out close-ups of Lemonglass and Snow below to get a better idea of the shades and the shimmer in them - how pretty, right?

I have last-minute makeup-requiring events come up all the time so I'm never without at lesat one of my UNII palettes. Now all I need is to buy one of Bobbi Brown's pan foundations so that I can pop one in one of my palettes and really have a face in a palette. I'd definitely recommend these as gifts for your make-up loving friends as they're practical, cute, wonderfully sturdy and oh so convenient.

Availbility: Online only at the UNII Palette site for $29.00.

This review contains a press sample - Minna, the creator of these wonderful palettes, was referred to me by the gorgeous Ana of Lipsticks & Lightsabers - gotta love your fellow bloggers! If you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please feel free to contact me at a.beautyful.sentiment@gmail.com.

Give Love a Chance

MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15

Do you ever try a product, hate it almost instantly, set it aside and then try it months or maybe even years later only to realize that you actually kinda love it? I've never really been a fan of MAC foundations, but my friend Cathy uses them and her skin is always glowing and pretty much flawless, and even Nicole has been giving them a second chance lately, which in turn has made me want to give them another shot. I popped by the MAC store in Grand Central Terminal yesterday and had them slap a little Studio Fix on my face (half over Prep + Prime, and half over just moisturizer) and I'm thinking it may be worth a second try.

Are there any products you hated at first but then later grew to love? Share in the comments!