I was lucky enough to get to sample these two products from Sensai skincare—a body cream and hand lotion. "The Body Cream," and "Intensive Hand Treatment," to be exact.

The Body Cream is really nice. I wish you guys could feel my legs right now. They're crazy soft.  And I put the cream on seven hours ago.  It stung because I put it on after I shaved (I hate when that happens!) but it's nice and light in texture and isn't stinky (which is HUGE for me when it comes to beauty products).

The hand treatment seemed pretty similar in texture to the body cream.  It went on and wasn't greasy or smelly at all.

So, good job, Sensai.  I wish I had a full-size of the body cream and not just a little sample container.  :)

I've often felt iffy about Benefit's products. There are a couple I've used regularly over the years, but I tend to write them off as being great for packaging but less great when it comes to product. Well, I'm happy to report their new Smokin' Eyes palette is really good!

The little palette contains nearly everything you need to create the perfect smokey eyes.  Three eyeshadows—a shimmery pewter, a shimmery light pink, and a velvety charcoal grey—black eyeliner, brow wax, eye brightener, and a two-sided brush and tweezers.  The palette comes with straightforward instructions (pewter on lid, liner and charcoal on lashline, pink shadow on the browbone, and eye brightener for the corners of eyes.

The pewter shadow is really pretty, even on its own, and the pink does a great job as a highlighter shadow.  The charcoal shadow isn't too dark (don't want to end up like Pamela Anderson) and the liner stays in place (better than other far pricier liners I've used before).  The brow wax is one of the Benefit products I've been a fan of for a while, and it does a good job of defining eyebrows.  The eye bright isn't super-noticeable, but it can't hurt, right?!  The little brush included in the palette (I made sure to use everything in the kit to apply, even though I used to do makeup for a living and have a huge stash of, obviously, better brushes) works just fine, though you'll probably want to use something else for your shadow anyway if you can.  The angled side works really well for applying the brow wax, though.

So, yeah, for $36 it's a pretty good deal.  While you get smaller portions of each product than you would if you bought them all individually, smokey eyes aren't usually an everyday look so it's a good way to get everything you need without spending a ton of cash.

So, I'm old now.  Heh.  I turned 30 in March.  A couple years ago I stopped wearing the wacky makeup.  Not that I'm actually old or anything, but I just started to think, "OK, maybe bright blue eyeshadow topped with green glitter isn't the way to go anymore."  I still have hundreds (seriously hundreds) of eyeshadows, dozens of pigments, blushes, hundreds of lipsticks and glosses, and on and on.  I used to spend the bulk of my disposable income on makeup.  Nowadays, I wear the same makeup every day. 

One of the things I wear each day is this Head Shot eyeshadow trio from Smashbox.  It rocks.  Smashbox makes really nice eyeshadows.  They're pigmented but still layerable and really soft and blendable.  This particular trio consists of a rosy pink with the slightest hint of shimmer, a more shimmery pale butter yellow, and a medium-toned coppery brown.  I tend to go with the rose on the lid, the yellow in the crease, and the brown as a liner, smudged upwards.  It's noticeable but still natural and subtle - Perfect for a woman of my advanced age.  :)

So, I've got the oily eyelid curse.  If I just put eyeshadow on my bare lids, within half an hour I'll have that lovely creasing action.  You know, when all the shadow sort of travels into the natural fold of the eyelid.  It's super-attractive, let me tell you.  All the talk of using a layer of foundation or whatever underneath the shadow to help it stick...  Nuh-uh.  Not working.  This, however, this is amazing.  Urban Decay's Primer Potion is the one makeup item if they ever discontinued it, I might actually cry.  I can put this stuff on under my eyeshadow and the shadow will not budge.  If I fall asleep in my makeup, my eyeshadow will look as good the next morning as it did when I applied it.  Seriously, you guys, if you have trouble with your shadow staying where it should, get this stuff.  It rocks.