Emerald Days and Sapphire Nights

One of the trends that I was very skeptical about at the beginning of the season was the embroidered leather jacket. I really didn't understand why you would do that to a jacket. And then I started seeing them more and more in blogs and around town and in stores and it started to grow on me. I began to realize that the very attributes that at first made me hesitate to embrace the trend were the very things that were drawing me to it.

Embroidered leather jackets take something classic and take add a whole other level of interest to it. Also it juxtaposes something almost harsh and masculine with something soft and incredibly feminine. It ends up being the perfect combination and also a great object lesson in life.

So my friend and I both ended up buying an embroidered leather jacket. She got hers in black and I got mine in khaki. Our color choices fit our personalities perfectly. So we decided we would get together and do an impromptu photo shoot on the light side and dark side of embroidered leather jackets!

Jacket: Franscesca's (shop similar)

Shirt: J Crew (shop similar)

Jeans: American Eagle

Shoes: Toms

Jacket: BlankNYC

Shirt: J Crew (shop similar)

Jeans: Loft

Shoes: Michael Kors (shop similar)

Earrings: White House Black Market (shop similar)

Sunglasses: Prada

So today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite eyeshadow palettes and a few of the looks that I have created with them. I'm obsessed with makeup; especially eyeshadow and lipstick. I sell an all natural makeup brand so I'm always posting different makeup looks in my Facebook makeup group (Audra Claire Beauty) and I thought it was time to share a few of them with you! Some of the pictures are slightly less flattering than others, but they show off the makeup, and that's what counts: right? I have a few other palettes that I love, but I think these have to be my favorite.

Urban Decay Naked Heat

I was incredibly skeptical when this palette came. I've never been able to wear red, pink or orange eyeshadows because they made me look like I had an allergy attack. But these colors were so pretty and so enticing it actually made me stop and think about it. Our Ulta store here brought in Urban Decay makeup artists and staged an event where the artists taught people how to use the Heat Palette. You can imagine that I was all over that. My friend and I went and had an amazing time and spent way too much money! So here are some of the looks I've done with the Heat Palette.

This was the look that the Urban Decay makeup artist created on me at the event

Lipstick: Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Sheer Liar

I then tried to recreate the same look with the same colors and the same lipstick

$54 at Sephora.com

Younique Addiction Palette 1

This eyeshadow palette is from the all-natural makeup line that I sell. These eyeshadows have no chemicals, no animal products, and no allergens. It's awesome, it's beautiful, it's healthy and it's not ridiculously expensive! It's the perfect the neutral palette with a little bit of sparkly zing. It has everything from matte to shimmer, dark to highlight. It's my go-to for an every day look.

$49 at audraclairebeauty.com

Morphe x Jaclyn Hill

I have been a huge fan of YouTuber Jaclyn Hill for as long as I can remember. I think I discovered her pretty soon after she started her channel. She does everything from incredibly helpful and everyday ideas to amazingly creative and inspirational ideas. She also seems to be a wonderfully sweet and amazing person as well. She was my inspiration for truly falling in love with makeup and trying new ideas for the sake of trying them, and not just trying things I expected to look good on me. I went crazy when she announced that she was partnering with Morphe to create her own palette. And then it took longer than expected for it to launch because she spent extra time on it to make sure it was perfect! I love the colors. They're so much fun and so useful. I have gone for a couple weeks and used this palette every day and done something different. It also makes a great base for using other eyeshadows. Her shimmer eyeshadows are amazing! I actually gave this palette to a couple of my girlfriends for Christmas. That's how much I love it.

I used this palette on a friend when I did her makeup for homecoming

Lipstick: Kat Von D Everlasting Lipstick in Lolita

$38 at morphebrushes.com

Urban Decay Naked Smoky

I love my Urban Decay Palettes. I have like five of them and they're all amazing and all my favorites. This one is all you need to create the perfect the smoky eye. For some reason that eye look always seem to be a mystery to people who don't have a intimate relationship with their makeup, but this palette takes away the guesswork. And I love the dark purple that is randomly placed in the palette. It goes so well with so many looks! And even though I don't wear much purple, I love wearing purple eyeshadow. Sadly, Urban Decay is discontinuing this palette, so hurry now and get it 50% off at Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom Rack.

Lipstick: Younique Opulence Lipstick in Top Notch

$25 at nordstromrack.com

Younique Addiction Palette 3

This is another of the palettes from the natural line I sell. This is the pink and purple palette in the set. I love this one, because I love wearing purple and these are pinks that I can actually wear without looking ill. And you can't beat the shimmer on these shadows. There are five palettes in this line that cover other family groups such as blue and taupe and bright colors.

Lipstick: Younique Splash Liquid Lipstick in Sentimental

Lipstick: Younique Splash Liquid Lipstick in Soulful

$49 at audraclairebeauty.com

Urban Decay Heavy Metal

So Urban Decay came out with this palette while no one was looking and then all of sudden it started popping on my Facebook feed continuously, so of course I had to check it out. I opened it and immediately fell in love. I'm a huge fan of shimmer shadows, so of course I'm automatically going to buy a palette that is all metallic. It has definitely lived up to my expectations. I'm so in love with this palette that it's all I can really say about it. Just go buy it. You'll thank me later.

My makeup look for Christmas this year.

Lipstick: Kat Von D liquid lipstick in Bow N Arrow with

Anastasia Beverly Hills Lipgloss in Gilded

Lipstick: Kat Von D liquid lipstick in Damned

$39 at sephora.com

Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture

This is the last one. I promise! I just discovered this palette last week. A girl in my Facebook mom's group posted about how much she loved this palette and it was on sale that day. So I went to Sephora (for the second time that day - but who's counting . . . ) and grabbed it. I've only really used it once so far, but I love it! I found the perfect green combo that I've been after for so long. I can't wait for all the fun things I'm going to be able to do with this palette!