EOTD using Sahara Nudes palette from EM by Michelle Phan.

  Honestly, I am a Michelle Fan. My favorite stories are success stories, and those whom I idolize are those who became successful on their own through hard work and love of what they do. Michelle is both a success and and beauty idol. When she first started sending out those cryptic e-mails a few months back I just knew it would have to do with a makeup line. So leading up to the launch of EM by Michelle Phan I put away a few dollars here and there, and the day the site went live I purchased just the Sahara Nudes palette.

I admit I hesitated. $38. Michelle started out a student/waitress who used mostly drugstore products in her early videos. Her viewership is mostly teens to early 20's. Many of us assumed her line would be a tad more affordable. Many were quite upset when it wasn't. I don't fault her for wanting a luxury line. It's not a line I can buy from on the regular, but if the products reflect the price I will put the money aside to support a good brand.

    In my opinion this is a good palette as far as shade selection and packaging. However it falls short of great because of the price and consistency of each shade. For $38 I want shadows that rival Urban Decay or NARS. The highlight and transition shades are the stars of this palette. I found the base color to be nice but a tad powdery. The three deep shades which are meant for lining and defining are high maintenance in that they can be difficult to blend and skip across the lid. Now let's be fair and consider that I have my own techniques and may use different brushes or base products so my experience might be different from another. All of this being said, I have used at least one shade from this palette every day since getting it.
 
  I would like to try other products from this line but we'll wait and see what's left after the rent.  Tried anything from the line? Are you a Michelle Fan? Don't be shy, follow if you like.

Later Lovelies,
Beks.

Let me just settle back in ...

  I've tried blogging before. I put a lot of pressure on myself to post often. I would sit with knitted brow over whether a sentence was witty enough, or if I had enough sentences in a paragraph. What started as a fun, laid back way to reach like minded people ended up being stressful and something i'd huff over. I went from posting at least four times a week to once a month. Then I dropped it. A few weeks after my last post I deleted that blog. It had come to a point where I wasn't even sad about it. More like "good riddance".

  So here I am... blogging. It's probably been about six months since i deleted my first blog. Turns out I liked and missed it after all. I liked being part of a community as well as the way my posts marked my days, kind of like a diary. What I want from this blog, and what you can expect from this blog is a few things. I want this to be a diary of sorts. I know there are young women out there with lives that parallel mine, who may be looking for inspiration or even wish to inspire someone like myself. I also love all things beauty. Whether it's in product, fashion, or person form I am all about pleasing aesthetics and a beautiful soul. I would also like to offer advice, maybe even "slice of lifestyle" tips. I'm no therapist but I live in the same world you do. Perhaps the way I view and share it will help someone, someday.

 I didn't intend for this first post to be this long. I just re-read the first two paragraphs though, and I'm content as I've said everything I wanted to. This is how one should feel after a posting, contentment. I can only hope I've figured this blogging thing out. I am of course putting myself out there in hopes of reaching, helping, and/or befriending others. So please, if you like what I have to say or even appreciate the pretty pictures, give us a follow. Not only will I grin childishly over it, but it only took this one thing to make another person (myself) happy. Instant good karma points.

I'll be back,
-Beks.



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