Pür Minerals "Let It Glow" bronze, blush, & brighten cheek trio

It was only when I started typing out the name of this holiday set that the name hit me: "Let It Glow".  LET IT GO.  I guess now we know why I felt an irresistible draw to the set... it's that flurrying Elsa power, at it again.  Serendipitous indeed that I randomly decided to swatch this box for the last day of my Frozen swatchathon! ❄

"Naughty & Nice" ... "Sugar & Spice" ... "Glisten & Glow"

bareMinerals *Holiday 2014* The BIG TOP

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and step right up!  Prepare yourselves for splendor, wonderment, and a spectacle the likes of which you have never imagined!  I present, for your fascination and delight... it's the "20-piece blockbuster color collection" that will take your breath away, and it's brought to us for a limited time only by bareMinerals... it's the one... the only... *The Big Top*!!

Essence Cosmetics : Dark Romance Collection

Calling all vampires!!  Essence's Dark Romance Collection is all about thrilling trysts in Gothic castles, and forbidden love in haunted ruins... Jane Austen's wide-eyed heroine Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey would be all about this, what with her naive fascination with Gothic novels bordering on hallucinatory obsession.  The Brontë sisters would undoubtedly approve as well.  But do be sure to accessorize properly with a shadowy gloss and unearthly lacquer when you curl up with Wuthering Heights, or maybe Jane Eyre, for a good October thrill... ;)  A spiced tea will be in order as well.  Purrrrr...

As Essence is a German company, the Dark Romance Collection was actually released as early as January 2014 in various parts of Europe (definitely Poland and Romania), but only just debuted in the United States.  According to the Essence website it was supposed to be a September limited edition release, but it only hit my local Fred Meyers on October 2 so it would seem that schedule has been pushed back a month.  I immediately pounced on every item Fred Meyer is carrying (except for the tattoos, they were a bit too biker chick for my taste) though the full collection also has one more each of the eyeshadow quad, lipstick ("Painted Love"), and nail polish (a gray), as I recall.  Ah well, I'll take whatever I can get!  I LOVE Essence's Limited Edition collections (though I rarely get to avail myself of them, seeing as they are available so sparingly in the U.S.); they do them monthly, and yet they are always consummately imaginative and original.  The themes are quite wide-ranging and the packaging is always adorable.  Not only that, the products generally quite excellent (at minimum, they are above average for a drugstore line), and are amazingly inexpensive!!  So much love for this brand, I has.

Oh, you demand to see this stupendously seductive collection, do you?  Well, okay.

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Nyx : Simply Vamp Lip Cream : "Enamored" & "Temptress"

I've always been fascinated by plum lips.  It's totally not me, really; my usual lip look is peachy, rosy, and buoyant.  But you know what, there are times when you just need to let your bad self reign.  And when it comes to sultry and seductive, there really is no better time than autumn.  Bring on the vamp.

Nyx "Enamored", "Temptress" // Essie "Sable Collar" // Essence "Time for Romance"

Nyx "Enamored", "Temptress" // Essie "Sable Collar" // Essence "Time for Romance"