REVIEW | NAKED 2 BASICS

A few weeks ago I got my hands on the new Naked 2 Basics palette from Sephora.

I have all of the previous Naked palettes, so I was excited for the newest addition to the series. The Naked Basics wasn't my favorite (although I do love Faint for filling in brows, and Venus as an eyebrow bone highlight) I like this palette a lot more.

GOODIES!

Lately I've been finding myself either in the company of people who like to spoil me (thanks mom!) and having a little extra cash from working a ton. That being said, I've been spoiling myself a little more than usual lately and here's what I've been spending my $$$ on.

BEAUTY 101

In my last post, I was sitting in the Radisson next to SeaTac airport preparing for Benefit Beauty school.

The hotel that I stayed at was also the place of training, so that morning I just had to get ready to go and then head downstairs. All I knew was that breakfast was at 9:30 and training started at 10, so I got up around 8 and took my sweet time. I didn't know if I was supposed to wear all black, if I was supposed to wear makeup and have my hair done (coworkers had told me we'd be doing each other's makeup) so I chose to wear a black polka dot dress and pink cardigan. I did some minimal makeup and curled my hair and headed downstairs with absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I'm one of those people that is always early, so I sat down in the lobby at around 9:10 and played on my phone for a little bit. Eventually, I saw some other girls who were wearing all black and also looked lost and we kind of gathered together and started awkwardly small-talking about "oh, so how long have you worked at Benefit?" etc.

At this point, we'd been up for more than an hour (some people had to drive in that morning) and we were hungry so we gravitated toward the food in a room nearby. We saw a sign on the wall and some nametags that had pictures of Benefit products on them, so we decided that's where we were supposed to be and grabbed some breakfast and some coffee.

Eventually we were led into the training room, which is where the photos above were taken. There were three tables, each with six chairs, and at each chair there was a cute little notebook, pen and some other sheets along with lots of makeup and skincare in the center of the table. After some icebreakers, we all learned about Benefit and talked about our objectives for the day and got started.

I won't go into specifics, but we did a lot of activities where we learned makeup techniques (mixology and brow mapping) and at the end of the day we got some gratis (free goodies!) I got a bag that had a lot of good stuff and the one shade of eyshadow that I don't like (blue. bleh!) but I'm still totally stoked that I got the stuff I did.

Overall, Beauty 101 was an awesome opportunity and I'm thankful that I get to have fun with work. I love that I work with other makeup geeks and a lot of the people who come in are also makeup geeks so I get to gawk out. Benefit is a great company, and I'm happy to work for it.

xo
Allie

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FANCY LIVING

As I write this, I'm currently on a bed in the Radisson hotel next to SeaTac airport.

No, I'm not flying anywhere; I'm here for my job.

When I started at Benefit Cosmetics at Macy's in July, I was told I would be heading to 'school' in mid-September. I didn't really know what that meant, but hey — that sounded fun!

Now I just know that I have to be downstairs by 9:30 and that we'll be learning about Benefit and doing each other's makeup; I'll update more with what I did on Monday!

For now, here's a little peek into the hotel room I'm in and what I brought.

My room! I was supposed to have a roommate, but she never showed up. #score

Macbook Pro | Case: Etsy | iPad Mini | Makeup bag: Forever 21 (similar) |  #GIRLBOSS | Backpack: Target

xo

Allie

AUTUMN TAG

Autumn is only weeks away!

I have always loved autumn and everything about it. When I saw the autumn tag going around, I knew I had to participate!

--

1. Talking about coffee, what's your favorite drink from Costa, Starbucks, Cafe Nero etc?
I'm allllllll over the salted caramel mocha. I've had like, seven already this year.

2.Accessories: what do you prefer - scarves, boots, gloves, anything else?

Scarves and combat boots! I also love beanies but find them hard to wear.

3. Music - what's your favorite tune / band / singer to listen to during Autumn months?
Anything acoustic/slower. I tend to listen to more moody music when the weather starts to get colder.

4. Perfume - what is your favorite perfume during Autumn?

I don't really have a specific one to be honest; right now I'm loving Benefit's Ring My Bella and smother myself in it every time I'm at work!

5. Candles: what scent you will be burning this Autumn season?

Flannel by Bath and Body Works. This candle smells like a man. A really, really good smelling man. If I can't have the real thing, I guess I'll have a candle that smells like a man, amirite?

6. What do you love most about Autumn?

My birthday! Pumpkins, candles and darker makeup. So p much everything.

7. Favourite makeup look?

I just like to go a little darker! Dark bronze eyes, dark lipstick (although it's high maintenance).

8. What are you looking forward the most in Autumn?My 21st birthday! And halloween. And pumpkins. ALL OF IT. #fallforeverpls

I tag everyone who loves autumn! Comment below with a link after you've posted it so I can read!

xo

Allie