I've wanted to work on this blog post for awhile. Mostly because I needed to see all my Urban Decay shadows in one place so I don't buy duplicates whenever I want a new color. Which is often these days. Maybe its because it's towards the winter in Minnesota and I just can't wait for spring.

I think it first started when I bought "Kiddie Pool" from Urban Decay as a single shadow because I didn't own any blue colors. I don't wear this shadow very often because I think it's not as smooth as the "newer" colors. Maybe the formula circa 2011 wasn't the best.

Then one day on Brad's Deals, I saw that the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. 4 was on sale and picked two up - one for both Mona and one for me. I love the packaging on this palette. I'll always love this palette the most as it was my first real UD experience. Such fond memories of using this palette!

Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. 4 Palette

I think sometime in 2013, I hit pan on Lost and Sin. I wanted to buy Sin again and saw it in the Ammo Palette at Sephora. I thought, why not just get a palette and try out more colors? I love how compact this palette is. There's not a lot of product, but I think it's a great sampling of all the colors. I usually never hit pan anyway!

In January of 2014, I was visiting with a friend from Vegas and she recommended the Naked 2 Palette for my every day and travel use. My favorite shadow is YDK in this palette!

For the rest of 2014, I caught the UD bug and bought many more palettes on sale. I bought the Glinda palette because I liked the metal packaging and the ability to swap out colors. I love the purple in this palette. The names aren't written in the palette but I found the information on Musings of a Muse:

Tornado (vibrant deep purple shimmer)
Aura (iridescent white with blue shift/Iridescent white with red shift)
Magic (pinkish purple with a golden shimmer)
llusion (pale peach satin)
Oz (gold with gold glitter/silver with silver glitter)
South (warm pale gray shimmer with silver micro-glitter)
Read more

That year, the Dangerous and Feminine Palettes were on sale on Urban Decay. I still am bummed that I didn't also get the Flirty Palette. They were sold out by the time I was onto the sale!

When Chef Yadi asked me what I wanted for presents in 2014, I naturally leaned towards more eyeshadow. He agreed to get me the sparkly Moondust eyeshadows and I selected four of my favorite shades: Zodiac, Diamond Dog, Intergalactic and Space Cowboy.

And during the fall of 2014, I couldn't stop reading about the Electric Palette because of all the bold colors! So during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, I picked it up! My biggest regret is forgetting to bring this palette with me to India in 2015. It would have been the perfect compliment to all the colors of India! Next time.

I felt guilty in 2015 and only bought UD's Vice 4 Palette with a $20 coupon I had saved for the year. Unfortunately, approximately 3 weeks after I purchased it, the palette went on sale. I still feel like I wasted my coupon and UD would not offer me a price adjustment! Grrr...

Those are all the Urban Decay shadows I own! I love all of them. I am still trying to incorporate more colors on the weekends so that I spread the love. I'll also update this post directly whenever I get new UD products so that I keep myself organized!

What UD palettes do you own and what do you think of them?

Photo Credits:

Urban Decay Kiddie Pool - Eyeshadow Liptick
Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. 4 - Temptalia
Urban Decay Ammo Palette - Lush4Blush
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily
Urban Decay Glinda Palette - American Style Beauty
Urban Decay Dangerous Palette - Temptalia
Urban Decay Feminine Palette - Vampy Varnish
Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows - Urban Decay
Urban Decay Electric Palette - Urban Decay
Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette - Temptalia

Are you a woman running for office? Let's face it - whether you are already a makeup junkie or not, you have to review what is appropriate to wear for photo shoots, informal gatherings and formal speaking engagements. I reviewed these same issues with my beauty routine when I started working, campaigning for a semi-public official role at the Minnesota State Legislature and when I had to go to Board meetings. I didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on a stylist to transform my look like other celebrity politicians.

Here's the catch-22: If you don't wear makeup you look tired and washed out. If you wear too much, people don't take you seriously. So the key seems to be to wear enough so you cover any dark eye circles and blemishes but not so much so that people are talking about your lipstick, eyeliner or eyeshadow and not your key message.

So then, what lip stick color schemes are appropriate? After flipping through pages of Hillary Clinton's photos online, I saw that she stuck with three color schemes for her day look: corals, nudes and pinks. She rarely wore reds or plums unless it was a photo shoot for a portrait or gala.

Corals

Image from a luncheon on "Inclusive Finance: A Path to the MDGs," hosted jointly by the United States and the Netherlands at the Helmsley Hotel in New York, New York, September 22, 2010

Nudes

Video image from abcnews.go.com from May 12, 2015

Pinks

Image from the Daily Signal from June 15, 2015

My lipstick tips for your campaign would be:

Know Your Skin Tone - what goes well with it? There are hundreds (maybe even thousands) of shades in corals, nudes and pinks. Know what works with your features.
MakeUp Genius App - to do the above, download this app and play with it. This app is amazing! It uses facial recognition to apply makeup on you so you can see what looks good. You can save the images and share them with your trusted friends to find your campaign look. This app is only for L'Oreal brands, but after you decide on a color you can always look for the same shade in your brand of choice.
Practice - If you're not a regular lipstick person, the last thing you want to do is to only wear the lipstick to your event and not know what it looks like after a few hours of talking, eating or being in the sun. If you're going to use a few go-to lipsticks, wear them before the event in similar circumstances and understand how the product works with your lips.
Lipstick Routine - I find it best to exfoliate with a sugar scrub first. Afterwards, apply the lipstick. Blot it off. Re-applying it makes the lipstick stay on longer. You can also buy lipstick primer/lip liner to keep the product on your lips longer too.

For the record, I think it's very offensive when the media focuses on a female candidate's appearance instead of her campaign message. This post is to help those running for office to be proactive and think about a potentially small issue like "lipstick color" ahead of time so it doesn't become a hindrance to your real goal- winning the seat in office!

Showcasing My Urban Decay Shadows

Makeup for Campaigning Series: Hillary's Lipsticks

Corals

Nudes

Pinks