Jaclyn Hill Favorites for Morphe Brushes

If you have been on instagram or anywhere near youtube in the last few days, you might have heard about the frenzy going on over Morphe Brushes and The Jaclyn Hill Favorites. 

Basically there was a cyber breach that was causing some major traffic jams on Morphe's website adding to an already anticipated crazy rush of traffic to pre order Jaclyn Hill's picks of amazing shadows. 

I am blessed and fortunate enough to live about 15 minutes away from the store and decided on a whim to drive over and see if the coveted palette was available. 

Lucky me it was. After waiting about 30 minutes to get in, I decided to pick up 2 palettes, one for me and one to giveaway very soon on my youtube channel. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. 

Originally I was stopping in to add to my collection of Morphe shadows, but with the craziness I decide to just pick up 2 of these palettes and go. 

Morphe makes some amazing shadows that compare to mac and makeup geek. Best part is they are $2.99 a pan! Guys this is seriously unbelievable! The quality is very pigmented, we are talking CRAZY. 

I've been a recent fan of Jaclyn Hill and I want to support YouTubers whenever possible. Think of it as karma :-)

I love her choices for this palette, the only thing I feel that is missing is a matte black in the palette, otherwise this is a beautiful set that is very versatile and wearable. While the shadows are very pigmented and blend-able, I urge beginners to remember this and blend, blend, blend!

Some of my favorite Morphe shadows are:

#20 the perfect dupe for mac's woodwink

#62 the perfect dupe for mac's cork

#90 the perfect dupe for mac's honey lust (I think better and more pigmented than mac)

Now there has been a lot of upset over this palette. It was originally suppose to be for pre sale starting January 1st. Starting at midnight the website had been very slow and difficult to get through. There were some cyber issues that Morphe tried to resolve as soon as possible. Then folks were upset over the shipping time. Many orders placed won't ship out to mid- late January. People were also upset that they sold out by the 3rd and were also selling at the store.

Here are my thoughts on the issues. Morphe is a relatively new and small company. They anticipated a huge amount of traffic to their site starting January 1st, but did not realize the evils of those who wanted to sabotage this exciting launch. Most likely Morphe hires someone to handle their website, and had to be at the mercy of their schedule, ability, and man power. If Morphe was Bill Gates or Steve Jobs I'm sure they would have fixed it themselves in 2 minutes, but Morphe makes makeup brushes and makeup products and they are good at that.

With all the madness, Morphe is sending out confirmation emails slower than usual and trying to solve problems as them come. I am sure that if your credit card has been charged YOU WILL get your confirmation email soon! From what I hear it is taking about a day.

January 1st was for pre order, I'm guessing so that Morphe could anticipate orders and prepare to ship out, buying themselves a little buffer time. Remember this is not the first time Jaclyn Hill has caused their site to crash. Expecting your product to reach you today is not realistic. You will be getting your palette within the month, it takes time, but your getting it no later than anyone else who ordered online. Need I mention Morphe is a relatively small shop? I'd also like to point out that shipping labor and costs are pricey for any business. While you the customer pays for shipping, most of the time the business is eating some cost here.

Being upset over Morphe selling the palette in their ONE retail store. Is this even something you should be upset about? Why would they not sell it in their retail store? They only have one small shop in Burbank, CA, that most folks won't be able to get to. If you had a shop would you not sell something that is on your website?

Basically at the end of the day this is a great palette for a great price. Your getting an amazing product curated by a great YouTuber. Let's cut Jaclyn and Morphe some slack. Jaclyn stands behind great products and Morphe is doing their best to get them to you. They are learning from this and I promise you they are loosing sleep trying to fill orders and get more palettes ready for sale because lets face it does any business want to have to turn away customers? NO!

If you ever get the chance, visit the store and see the people that work there. They love what they do and they work very hard. You can even see the shipping folks working in a frenzy out back. Let's also give props to Jaclyn Hill for being so influential and beneficial for a company. It's amazing the power of YouTubers these days. We should be excited, because YouTube is the voice of actual consumers.

So lets all take a breath, hope Morphe gets new palettes in ASAP (which they have promised to) and support a local business in the U.S.A.  as well as Jaclyn and at the end of the day, it's just an eyeshadow palette. We all love makeup, but seriously lets all relax a little.

XOXO
Serein

P.S.
I am not affiliated with Morphe in any way or know anyone personally.

Chanel Spring 2015

Chanel just always gets me. Something about Coco Chanel and the legacy she has left behind. Everything is so elegant, timeless, and chic.

Chanel Spring 2015 has officially launched and I picked up one of the eyeshadow quads in 236 Tisse Fantaisie. I felt that this one was more suited for my typical makeup look and I can get lots of use out of it. 

Sadly the blushes while beautiful, just didn't work well with my skin tone so I decided to pass on them. My recent obsession with lipsticks and lippies in general has me passing on the lip products from this collection. There wasn't anything that I felt was so unique that I didn't already own something similar or needed. 

The shades are very build able and easy to blend.

Like most high end shadows, with one swatch it's hard to tell how beautiful they really are. Most of the color stays on my fingers that I use to swatch my arm. The shimmery white is absolutely gorgeous and the dark brown stained my arm all day.

Will you be picking anything up from the Chanel Spring 2015 Collection?

XOXO
Serein

What I Got For Christmas 2014

Just wanted to do a quick post and share with you my beauty loot from Christmas. Lots of folks like to film "What I Got For Christmas" videos, but I find it so hard these days when my presents are scattered from Black Friday through Christmas.

Here are the beauty items that I received this year. Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Christian Louboutin Nail Colour The Pops in Wherever
My husband really wanted to be able to get me this beautiful polish because of my wedding shoes. I talk all about why I would spend $50 on a nail polish here. Also I tell my story about the blue Louboutins and my wedding in my last vlog for vlogmas here.

Tartelette Matte Palette
While stopping in to pick up my polish, I saw the much anticipated tartelette palette. Seeing it in person I couldn't pass it up, especially when I knew I had a bit extra on the gift card I received. The palette in person is so gorgeous and non of the pictures I've seen has done it justice. More on the palette in my next posts.

Chanel Reverie Parisienne Les 4 Ombres in 236 Tisse Fantaisie
Chanel's new spring collection is out and I picked out one of the eyeshadow quads. The blushes while beautiful, just didn't look right on my complexion. More on this beauty in future blog posts.

What did you get for Christmas?

XOXO
Serein

My Winter Skincare Must Haves

My skin is combination oily. I get very oily on my nose and dry patches on my chin if I'm not careful. 

Come winter time, my skin goes into crazy mode. It's not sure what it is, it's dry, irritated, and oily. 

Many people don't understand that oily skin needs moisture and so does dry skin especially in the winter time. Here are my current go to skin savers at the moment, mostly oil based. 

Oil! Yes OIL! Especially if you are oily, oil can be your best friend. For my oily skin people, your skin over produces oil because it thinks it needs it. That's why you can be dry and oily at the same time. 

By using a high quality oil, like the Coco Kind facial repair serum pictured above on your skin, you tell your oily skin that you don't need to produce so much and also hydrate at the same time. 

Many of my viewers have been commenting on how glowing and healthy my skin looks, it's because of oil. I apply this oil based serum day and night before my moisturizer. At night I use a cleanse off oil (currently using one from coco kind) to remove all my makeup and dirt. Oil is great at removing stubborn makeup. 

During the day I just use a cleansing water on a cotton pad, then apply a toner, and this amazing oil to refresh my skin. The best part is the coco kind  facial repair serum is only $12! 

I've also been using body oils after my shower. I like the Aromatherapy Associates De- Stress Massage & Body oil which makes me feel relaxed. The packaging is so luxurious and beautiful too. During the day or when I'm in a hurry I'll use my Avene Body Oil, this one is great for travel since it's in a plastic bottle.

Now my hair has been colored and bleaches, so after any heat styling I like to bring back shine with this Agave Revitalizing Shine Spray. A little goes a long way and boy does it smell amazing! Start from the ends and work your way up.

My lips have been just as dry as the rest of my body and this does not work well with the bold red lips I like to wear this time of year. My go to lip scrub for a few years now has been Lush's Santa's Lip Scrub. It smells like cherry cola and tastes great! 

After my lip scrub and before headed to bed I like to apply a very heavy lip mask or lip balm. Currently i'm suing the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask. It's super think and hydrating, but smells a bit like tires. Also my husband hates the texture of this, but he loves the way my lips feel in the morning.

Lastly I like to use a exfoliating and hydrating mask once or twice a week. My current favorite is from SkinFoods. If you watch my vlogmas video you would have seen me shop at the SkinFood store in Glendale. This Black Sugar Honey Mask smells divine. It gently exfoliates and hydrates my skin at the same time. My skin feels amazing and plump after using this. 

One more tip before heading off to bed, this is a trick I learned from my voice teachers in collage, but alway sleep with a humidifier next to your head. The steam is great for your sinuses, vocal cords, and skin. I use a warm mist one in the winter time. 

Stay hydrated this season!

XOXO

Serein

Dior Holidays

I have been walking around drooling at the new Dior Holiday shadows for the last few weeks and I finally purchased one.

These beauties retail at $60 a pop, so I had to choose wisely and I could only choose one. My choice was the Dior 5- Colour Eyeshadow in 566 Versailles 

I choose this palette out of the 10 in the collection, because I felt that it was neutral enough to get some wear after the winter and holiday months. I mean spending $60 I want to get my use out of this baby.

The colors are rich, warm, and shimmery, perfect for the holidays and winter months for a bit of glamour. I will continue to use the palette mixing with my other more matte palettes. The silver is just beautiful and so fun to use as an inner corner shade.

The shadows are a quite hard in texture, but very bendable and easy to apply with brushes. I wouldn't say they are crazy pigmented, but they do apply nicely on the lid. The center shade in the palette (first from left above) was a little disappointing to work with as it's very glittery and difficult to transfer from brush/ finger to eyelid.

Did you pick up any Dior Holiday Shadows?

XOXO
Serein

Makeup Of The Day- Warm Neutrals Edition

I'm really happy with today's makeup products and thought I'd share my warm natural winter look. 

Recently I picked up this beautiful Dior Holiday 5 Colour Eyeshadow palette in 566 Versailles. The colors are so warm and shimmer, the perfect festive natural eye makeup look. The shadows are so pretty and who doesn't love a luxury palette? 

After a brief visit to mac this week, I was reminded of an old favorite blush that I use to wear everyday. MAC Mineralized Blush in Warm Soul is so beautiful and one of the most wearable blushes on all skin tones. 

Thanks to a friend/ viewer I was recently given the new Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet Foundation. This has been out for a few months now, but it is a great alternative to my all time favorite Chanel Vita Lumiere Aqua Foundation. I wear beige 20 in both. Full review and First Impressions video will be up on Monday on my channel. 

A recent discovery has been the Laura Geller Baked Split Highlighter Duo. I first heard about this from Tati on GlamLifeGuru's Channel. On Wednesday I was having a pretty horrible day emotionally and decided to stop in to Ulta to put my 20% off coupon to good use. There were only 2 of these beauties left, and I 'm so happy I got this. It's got a matte side and a super shimmery side that works for natural looks and evening looks. 

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla is a holy grail product for me. I love how it covers and brighten my under eye area. It lasts all day, doesn't crease, and is just a little magic wand. 

Today I broke out my new mascara from Dior and I have to say it's a slightly wetter formula version of Benefit's They're Real Mascara, both up there in price, but there's something about this Dior packaging that I am loving. 

What have been some of your favorites lately? Share them with me on Twitter or Instagram @sereinwu 

XOXO

Serein

Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar & The Original Chocolate Bar Palettes

I have been a huge fan of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette since it came out, so when I heard about the semi-sweet chocolate bar Too Faced is releasing, I freaked out a bit, then became skeptical. The debate was serious, but I caved and bought the new palette. 

First thing I noticed about the Semi-Sweet Palette, is that it is much thinner than the original. This is great for travel and the makeup hoarder like myself. Slimmer packaging = more makeup storage possibilities. The next packaging improvement is that the shadows are labeled! Thank the Lord! The original had a clear insert with the shadow names on it, which I have lost long ago.

Just look at this beauty! I'm so happy I purchased it, the shades are very neutral, wearable, and a little similar to the original, but they definitely created some new shades of browns and golds that I'm loving. Also like the original, it smells like heaven! 

By far my favorite row of colors. Those are so pretty and light I can see myself wearing them all spring with different pops of color.

Take note at the difference in packaging size. 

Side by side comparison of colors. I feel like the original had a cooler theme in shades and the semi -sweet is a bit warmer in tones. I like to think of the original as milk chocolate and the new one as dark chocolate.

The original in all it's glory. Notice the lack of names, thicker packaging, and cooler neutral shades compared to the Semi-Sweet Palette.

This bottom row is defiantly my favorite, especially around fall and winter time.

Both palettes are a great deal, smell amazing, have great pigmented, blend ability, and are wearable shadows. I like to recommend the chocolate bar palettes to all makeup lovers because it smells so dang good and so easy to use.

If your deciding on which of the palettes to purchase, I'd suggest figuring out if you prefer warmer tones (get the semi- sweet) or cooler tones (get the original).

If money is tight and you already own the original, don't worry too much, you won't miss anything drastically different, but if your a makeup lover it doesn't hurt to own another wonderfully packaged palette that smells like chocolate. Makeup & chocolate? I think Too Faced gets it.

Will you be buying the new Semi- Sweet Palette? Do you already own the original Chocolate Bar Palette?

Don't forget to watch subscribe to my main youtube channel as well as my vlog channel!

XOXO
Serein

Makeup of The Day- Current Winter Favorites

Today's post is a quick one. Here are my current favorites I've been reaching for daily. This week I'm playing with different pops of color by adding in some colour pop cosmetics on the eyes. Find out more about the super affordable U.S.A. made Colour Pop Cosmetics from my last post here.

Tom Ford Color Quad in Cocoa Mirage
My favorite everyday neutral palette
Read more about this beauty here

Tom Ford Cream Eyeshadow in Spice (limited edition)
This is my obsession this session! The cream is so fluffy and light. Super pigmented and versatile.
Read more about this limited edition item here

Tom Ford Eye Defining Liquid Liner Pen
The best liquid liner I've ever encountered. Makes winged liner quick and easy.
Read more about this magic eyeliner here

Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Pussycat
I love a good mauve lip color for everyday winter wear. This is a new addition to my collection. The matte formula feels great and not over drying. The color pay off is rich and pigmented and who doesn't love pulling out a luxurious lipstick to re apply?

NARS blush in Almeria Limited Edition Holiday
I find that I don't like to fuss around too much with blushes and I tend to stick to one for months at a time. This NARS blush is the perfect deep wine shade that adds a little color to the face, but does not overwhelm in case you are wearing a bolder lip and eyes.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara
A favorite mascara of mine, it lengthens, volumizes, and curls the mascara without smudging.

Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude 
My favorite lipliner at the moment. The formulation is soft and rich. I love the nude shade to go with most lipsticks I wear.

Colour Pop Super Shock Shadow in Not a Drift
These shadows truly are amazing. I purchased the "Not a Box of Chocolates" holiday super shock shadow collection and I'm loving every single shade. Read my full review on Colour Pop Cosmetics here.

What have you been loving lately? What do you find your reaching for everyday?

XOXO
Serein

Colour Pop Cosmetics Band Wagon

Okay so after avoiding the colour pop craze that has been happening lately on blogs & especially youtube, I finally jumped on the band wagon on Black Friday.

I purchased one of their holiday eye color collections in "not a box of chocolates". 

The eyeshadows are crazy! They are the most unique texture and formulation I've ever felt. It' not quite a cream, not a pigment, yet not a traditional shadow either. Shadows are creamy, blend able, and pigmented. Definitely fun and worth the $5 a pop. Crazy affordable. 

Tip- make sure the keep the lids on tight as to not dry out the shadows. 

I also picked up a few lippies and lip liners in Button & Brink

First off I do like how the lippies and coordinating lip pencil are the same name, so no guessing on which one to get together. 

The formula is super rich and pigmented. I love the packaging and again the $5 price point is risk free and wonderful.

Sadly I wasn't a huge fan of Button. The shade made my lips look a bit flat and dead, but this would look beautiful on a paler complexion than mine. Not quite sure why Button's lip pencil is so much darker than the lippie, which added to the odd look on my.

I will be repurchasing a few different shades so I can try them out. I think I'd really like the bolder and brighter shades with these formulations.

Tip- make sure to exfoliate and moisturizer your lips before wearing these.

Have you tried Colour Pop Cosmetics yet? Will you now?

XOXO
Serein

The Gift of Gold - Tatcha Golden Lip + Mirror Duo

With the holidays coming around this year, I am looking at all I have to be grateful for the year. My little hobby that made me happy has taken over my life in the best way possible. Through the madness of videos, posts, and social media, I have met some amazing women who are loving, kind, talented, and all around good humans. 

While this is a review for Tacha, it's a special one because a dear friend I've met this year because of my Youtube channel sent it to me. Carla from Fashion Maven Mommy went out of her way to reach out to me during the Allure Beauty Blogger Awards. Carla has stood by me and believed in me in all my endeavors when I was down. There is something about Carla, she is positive, wise, and always hopeful.  This special delivery was completely unexpected and it's more than a lip balm for me. 

Carla sent me the most luxury lip balm and mirror set I've ever seen. Tatcha's packaging is exquisite. 

The balm is a Camilla balm underneath a sheet of gold. Yes, gold! The balm is incredibly hydrating and absorbs quickly, perfect before apply lipstick. The gold crushes upon application and leaves a beautiful golden sparkle. 

The holiday kit includes a beautiful gold mirror and lavender cloth case. The mirror is perfect to put in my bag, something I was missing in my purse.

Everything is packaged beautifully and makes the perfect holiday gift for anyone. Who doesn't need lip balm?

Make sure to check out Carla's blog Fashion Maven Mommy if you haven't already.

Will you be purchasing anything from Tatcha this holiday season? Use code: FF20 for 20% off.

XOXO
Serein

Naked On The Run

There is just something about an all in one palette that always gets me. I'm forever looking for the perfect palette to take on the go and I think Urban Decay has come up with the one. 

Urban Decay's Naked on The Run has a beautifully large mirror, 5 wearable neutral eyeshadows, bronzer, blusher, highlighter, your lips but better gloss, mascara, and eyeliner. You really could get away with just this and a foundation or concealer. 

The Shadows:

Typical Urban Decay formula of blend-ability. 

The color range offers 2 neutral matte shades, 3 shimmer shades, and a larger highlight shade that can be used as a highlighter for the face as well. 

Not necessarily my favorite eyeshadow palette, but not bad and I will use it quite a bit. 

The Bronzer: 

A great matte bronzer for warming up the face or light contouring. 

I do think if you have a darker complexion this bronzer would not work for you. 

Hopefully they come up with a palette geared for darker complexions soon. 

The Highlight:

Beautiful with just enough shimmer. 

Might be too light for darker complexions. 

The Blush:

A fun pinky pop of color with a cool blue undertone.

The Mascara:
Not my favorite formulation of mascara, but will work in a pinch and it's full size!

The Eyeliner:
You also get a nice dark brown 24/7 glide on eye pencil in Stag.
The pencil is a smaller size, but you'll have plenty for vacations and touch ups.
I love the Urban Decay liners for their smudge-ability and long wear.

The Gloss:

The lip gloss is a beautiful your lips but better shade. 

I'm a fan of the naked glosses and you get a full size, not bad for $54!

For $54 the kit is a great value. My only real concern is the weight of it. While the packaging is durable and vey nice, it adds a lot of weight to a handbag. 

This would make a great present for a new makeup user as it'll have everything one would need. I also think this is perfect for women who don't want to fuss with their collection and just want a grab and go. 

Will you be grabbing this palette? What's your favorite on the run product?

XOXO

Serein