How are you spending your mid-week Independence Day holiday? ^_^ Mine shall be terribly busy because I have to finish my work for tomorrow. I'll be out all day attending meetings and events so, whew, I need to get a lot of stuff out of the way first. Anyway! Today I'll be talking about an interesting palette from Beauty Bar.

The Smashbox Heat Wave Palette (price to be updated) was designed to create smoldering summer looks, but in my opinion these colors would look good in any season. The top row has five warm shades while the bottom row has cool, smoky shades, just perfect for matching and blending with each other! You can go as light or as sultry as you want. I love that the colors are not overly common; they're not the sort you'd find easily in more affordable palettes.

My first Smashbox palette (bought about four years ago) was a disappointment. It was expensive and pretty to look at but it was also practically useless due to the pathetic pigmentation. However, the brand's eyeshadows have come a long way since then. This new palette in particular is so pigmented that you won't even need to use an eyeshadow base to make them opaque!

The texture is smooth and creamy to the touch, which makes it easy to blend on the lids - bare or primed.

Is it chocolate or is it makeup? The Shu Uemura Chocolat Donna Limited Edition palettes look good enough to eat! In fact I wanted to keep mine pristine so badly that I only used it a grand total of three times since I got it last July. I know it's silly, but if you had something this pretty you'd want to keep it new-looking for as long as you can.

Packaging aside, the eyeshadows can stand on their own. They're super creamy and pigmented, and the color selection is great too! The one I have, the Orange & Pistachio Palette has a glittery orange shade, a matte green, satin beige, taupe, chocolate brown, and dark brown all together. They don't have names, just numbers (1,2,3,4,5, and 6 respectively).

Let's make this Clinique Day! Since I just posted about the last Clinique Party, I thought I should also post a review of their newest product to hit the Philippines: Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Colour (P1,550). It's a liquid eyeshadow that comes in a tube with a cooling silver applicator. It also promises to have ingredients to soothe skin and fill in lines.

I think the applicator is a cool (literally and figuratively) add-on, but overall, I can do without it. It's easier to spread the eyeshadow with a finger or a concealer brush instead of trying to use the silver tip to even out the color. 

As for the eyeshadow itself. It's sheer, like most of Clinique's eyeshadows. Clinique is a brand that's all about natural-looking makeup so I'm not surprised!

One of my best finds in a while is this Randy Ortiz x Kashieca convertible dress I got in Greenbelt 5 some weeks ago. Did I say convertible? It can be worn as a skirt, a venus cut dress, or as a tube dress. Best thing about it is that I got it at 70% off! It was originally around P2,500 but I got it for ~P700. It's an old collection, but it's definitely timeless.

Randy Ortiz x Kashieca dress | SM belt | Ferretti bag | YRYS boots | Pinkbox and Parfois accessories

I wore this look to a coffee date with a Project Vanity reader (hi Sara!) yesterday. She will be reviewing a couple of cool products for the blog soon so that's one thing I'm looking forward to.

Oh, here's my bronzy blue eyeshadow. It's a combination of Shu Uemura and Majolica Majorca colors! Patrick Alcober, one of Shu's top makeup artists, mentioned that the best way to wear blue is to mix it with brown.

Last month, I ran out of my favorite eyeshadow primers (UDPP and TFSI) at the same time so I decided to hunt for a new one. I'm foolish like that. I have holy grail products sure, but I also like to explore other options. It makes for good blog fodder, and who knows, the new one might actually work better!

Anyway, I came across the MAC Prep + Prime Eye (P1,000+) last August. I normally look for online reviews before buying a product in this price range, but I got this one on impulse plus I was in a hurry at that time. I didn't like it at first but I suppose it's just one of those things that grow on you, you know?

What I love about the product

• Intensifies eyeshadows, like a good eye primer should. It makes pigments and shimmers adhere better on skin.
• It feels like a very thin, lightweight, liquidy concealer, so it evens out your lid and can act as a base for your undereye concealer as well. If you don't have super dark bags, this can actually double as a concealer by itself.

A lot of things are bothering me lately. That statement should logically lead to the "what", but since I don't really like wearing my heart on my sleeves online, well. I'm just not happy. However, I am the ultimate optimist so I know I'll get over this soon, but I just want to wallow a little, just a few minutes, until I move on.

I'll just leave the Bene Gesserit litany here because it's calming.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain. 

On to the kikay post! Nothing cheers me up than nice kilay, good skin days, and the color blue.

Face: Guerlain L'Or primer, Tony Moly Baby Doll BB Foundation, The Balm Time Balm Liquid Concealer, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit (undereyes), Clinique Blended Loose Powder, Guerlain Meteorites

I was really impressed by the color payoff and texture when I first swatched the Nichido Stardust Eyeshadow in Blue Lagoon (P168) at the mall. I didn't think twice and added it to my cart. When I got home though, I was really dismayed when I re-swatched the newly opened palette. Well, it wasn't a total bust, but it's honestly not something I would use.

So why was there a difference of quality between the tester and the new palette? I read an explanation somewhere that the oils in the fingers of those who swatch makeup tend to mix in with the powder, making it creamier and somehow intensifying its color. I know, gross! But that's how it works. 

The eyeshadow is pretty useless by itself, but over a base like the Urban Decay Primer Potion or the Too Faced Shadow Insurance, it will come out nicely.