#my besties also got me roses but i haven’t got a pic!

[softvampie]

my cake and roses 🖤

[roimp]

dude me and my bestie are literally so dumb bye aksjskjwksksw 💀 for the first three hours we were kinda awkward cause we haven’t seen each other in two years and we’re both kinda quiet (hard to believe but yes i’m shy irl 😞 wish i wasn’t lol) so we didn’t really know what to talk about akdjke but finally after dinner we had sm fun 😭 for only like an hour bc then she had to go 😔 ksjdkejwkc still fun tho all of my other birthdays were basically just the first three hours 😩

anwyayysys SHE GAVE ME TWO GIftss IT’S LITERALLY EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED told my mum i wanted a hp shirt bc she was asking me what i wanted two days ago but she couldn’t find anything and today she gave me a bracelet with most of the horcruxes, harry’s scar and the sorting hat on it and a notebook with the logo thingnskdjek AND LIKE WE HAD PIZZA AND I HAVE THREE CAKES ONE FROM LAST NIGHT/MIDNIGHT TOday ONE FROM WHEN MY BROTHER’S friend CAM AND TODAY LIKE HAJSHSJASH FIRST ALL THE WISHES THEN THE ❤️ POSTS AND THEN UR FIC AND ASH’S EDITED PICS AND THE WALLPAPEPRWKAKDJWKWKSKDKW AND I GOT A HUG FOR LIKE THE FIRST TIME AND SOMEONE (MY BESTIE DUH) SAID ILY SO IT WAS MY FIRST TIME HEARING IT IN PERSON SJDUTIKAK AHHH TODAY WAS SO GOOD IM SO GLAD I DONT HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW TO RUIN THIS LOL WHEN WE WERE FONNA Eat THE PIZZA MY BEOTHER WAS GIVING THOSE FANCY GLASSES TO US SO LIKE HE WHISPERED ‘we’re taking out the fancy stuff for the guests. enjoy it while it lasts’ IN A ���� TONE LOLDKDKR ISODIWOOAS OK ANYWAYS IDK WHY IM AYAING ALL OF THIS BYEYEYEYCHMS 😎

OMGGGGGGGGG

i'm so glad you got to meet your best friend after 2 years wow that's crazy and rose shy irl🤨 asjgjagdjsh but YAYAY FOR THE REST OF THE DAYY

THREE CAKES AJGSKHAJ YOU HAD AN AWESOME DAY I SEE AND I'M SO GLAD TO KNOW ME AND ASH AND MANY OTHERS ALSO WERE PART OF MAKING THIS AN AWESOME DAY FOR YOU AND THE GIFTS!!!! THEY'RE AWESOMEEEE THE BRACELET IS SO CUTEEE AND THE NOTEBOOK (what are you going to write in it?👀)

YAYYYY SEEMS LIKE A PERFECT DAY BESTIE WOOHOOOO

@justadreamyhufflepuff @roonilwazlibweasley

[yugiohcardsdaily]

In honor of my 25th birthday, here are 25 facts about me and our beloved franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh!

I’ve been collecting the cards since I was 6.

I watched the original anime when it was first coming out in America. Back when it was on KidsWB, I believe.

The dubs are the only way I’ve ever experienced the shows. I can’t bring myself to watch the subs because of it. Also it was a wonderful thing to look forward to every Saturday morning, back when they still had cartoons on at the time.

When I was little, I’d pull cards out of my collection and duel one of my sisters. We didn’t know all the rules, so we’d end up with huge hands and a lot of nonsense turns. So it was almost like Season 1 of the original anime, except in real life.

I learned how to duel properly in high school. For some reason, Yu-Gi-Oh! became really popular to play when I was a junior/in the 11th grade, so I got to enjoy it with other people. Ran an Agents deck, wasn’t very good, but I had fun.

I’ve written Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction since I was in the 5th grade, which was roughly about 2006 or 2007. I also started writing Naruto fanfiction at about the same time, but I haven’t written that nearly as much as I’ve written Yu-Gi-Oh! stuff.

My first three Yu-Gi-Oh! OCs are characters I still use to this day. They’ve evolved a lot over the years, kind of growing up with me. In case anyone’s curious, their names are Carrie West, Jessica West, and Mirage. Carrie’s the main one, Jessica’s her sister, and Mirage was originally just supposed to be like a “Yami” for Carrie. She’s much more than that now, but I won’t bore you with the details.

The first time I saw anything 5Ds-related, I thought it was stupid and avoided watching it. Thank the Crimson Dragon I gave it another try.

This isn’t news, but my favorite characters in the franchise are Yugi Muto and Yusei Fudo. Still bitter about how much Yugi is ignored in favor of Yami/Atem, even in official merch. And also bitter that a lot of images of Yusei on official stuff erases his criminal mark, even though he’s had it since like Episode 6 and always had it in the manga, from what little I’ve read of it.

I met my best friend through fanfiction for this franchise. I posted my work on good ol’ Fanfiction.net, she reviewed, and the rest is history.

That friend got to go to Japan and see Darkside of Dimensions there. She also sent me some Yu-Gi-Oh!-related stuff that she bought while in Japan, including a DSoD booklet thing.

Said friend also got a recording of LittleKuriboh using his Yugi voice to say that I’m “super-special-awesome” as well as his signature in a 3-in-1 manga for the original series. It was at AnimeNorth, I believe, a few years ago now.

I was introduced to Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged in high school by one of the boys I played the game with. The first Abridged thing I experienced was Leather Pants.

I thoroughly enjoyed Marik Plays Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, which is why I bought and played the game myself. Wish he’d go back to it, but until then I’ll just rewatch the videos every now and then.

Some kid on my school bus stole my Uria, Lord of Searing Flames card (which came from the tin based around it; I mistook it for Slifer at first) and my Black Luster Soldier card (might have been from one of Yugi’s early Starter decks.) I let him look at my card binders and the little shit took them out. >:/

My older sister wrote fanfiction that included a couple of my characters as a big part of the plot. This was because our characters were cousins. Anyway, I looked through it while chatting with my best friend. It. Was. Fucking. Awful. Carrie was completely out of character. Mirage wasn’t being utilized correctly. I anonymously ripped my sis a new one through a review on FF.net, which caused her to take it down and come to me, saying something about how I had great fans who would defend my OCs and she was sorry. She still doesn’t know it was me.

As a result of the above, I stopped including her OC in my writing, and I actually had the character killed off in a OneShot because I didn’t want her lingering in my plots in any way. Said character was also paired with Kaiba in a very out of character fashion, so I set him free from her shackles. Now he’s in a crack ship in my universe with my bestie’s OC, nicknamed KaKa due to their names.

I have a couple of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds OCs. They’re twin sisters who, because of me deciding how much time passes between the original series and this spin-off, are the great-granddaughters of Yugi Muto and one of my OCs.

I tried to play...Duelist of the Rose?? a game for the PS2 while at a friend’s house. Couldn’t get past the first fight which was with...I want to say Rex or Weevil. But the characters were using names from like King Henry and shit. Yugi/Yami said his name was Henry, but to call him Yugi, like what???

My current card collection count (try saying that five times fast) sits at 2813. I have them split among four binders, three of about the same size and one thin. Two of the four are just Monster cards.

I wish they’d stop making new rarities for cards. Toon Chaos was basically scalped because of that, but also it’s just unnecessary. There are lots of rarities available. They just stopped using some of them for whatever reason. Like, gimme more Ghost Rares and less Collector’s Rares, please!

I have ships I ship, which obviously include some OC x Canon ones, but I won’t name them. Shipping wars are dumb.

My favorite female character in the franchise is...a tie between Mai Valentine and Akiza Izinski. Don’t get me wrong. I like most of the lady cast in general. Also, I prefer Mai before her voice changed and Akiza during the Dark Signers stuff over who she becomes later in the series, which is just Yusei’s love interest.

There’s kind of a running gag in my Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction between me and my bestie. For the longest time, even if the story didn’t involve him, Kaiba kept appearing. I made a “meme” image to commemorate the reoccurring event, which is simply a pic of him with the words “Kaiba appears nonetheless” in impact font.

I started this blog on a whim. No idea why I did, but I’m glad that I never deleted it like I did so many other sideblogs. It has been an honor to be a part of this community. You guys have been amazing <33

[thepennydarling]

Happy HUUUUUMP Day, ya’ll!

Preston and I have had a VERY busy…month, actually, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon! Phew! Lots of work and things to do!

This is a VERY exciting Wednesday, if you didn’t know it!

My 27th birthday is next Thursday, May 23rd! And I am excited and a little nervous!

So I’ve teamed up to giveaway over $1,000 of giveaways with some of my favorite places to shop, my most requested items, and more! We’ve got Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, ModCloth, Unique Vintage, and more!

However, this is a SUPER exciting week (starting today!) with you all!

Let’s talk about the ruuuules!

Let me just sneak the boring stuff so we can get to the goods! Check me out on Instagram here!  I also have a selling Instagram page where I sell some of my old clothes/styles so that I don’t drown in my own wardrobe. I just listed a few new things – so check that out!

HOW TO ENTER:

All giveaways will take place on Instagram between 5/16 and 5/22.

Winners will be randomly selected & all be announced on 5/24.

You follow me, like the pic, & tag two besties to enter EACH post!

Each Instagram post is a DIFFERENT giveaway and will be listed in the description!

Follow the company who is sponsoring the giveaway! (they will be tagged!)

EXTRA ENTRIES OPPORTUNITIES

Throughout the week there will be LOTS of opportunities for extra entries! Keep posted to my Instagram stories, blog posts, and Facebook for announcing opportunities!

For extra entries ANY day, like & follow All-In-One Company on Instagram and comment your fave animal emoji!

For double entries ANY day, like & follow the shops listed at the bottom of this page!

  I’m kicking off this birthday week with a totally gorgeous tea party, hosted by Bigelow Tea!

Ya’ll know how much ya girl loves tea. I love it hot, iced, and spilled! Ha! So obvi, I knew I wanted to have a birthday tea party with Bigelow! I love to put peppermint tea bags in my water bottles for a refreshing twist, sleepytime tea for relaxing, or even sharing English Breakfast (Preston’s fave!) with him!

Check out Bigelow Tea on Social Media! You can check them out on Facebook here, and you can sip on over to the ‘gram to follow Bigelow here!

Bonus:

This skirt was CUSTOM designed by the INCREDIBLE Rachel Gray of Wishes & Wardrobes to look like the style icon: MINNIE MOUSE for the Surprise Celebration in Disney! Rachel makes totally custom and Disney Inspired garments!

Check Wishes & Wardrobes out on social media!  Instagram & Etsy  (double bonus: her Insta is TOTALLY adorable!)

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse don new outfits bursting with color to commemorate 90 years of magic in celebrations across Disney Parks. Beginning in January 2019 at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., guests are invited to Get Your Ears On – A Mickey and Minnie Celebration. The special party will feature new entertainment and decor at Disneyland park, plus limited-time food and beverage offerings and festive merchandise available throughout the resort. (Richard Harbaugh/Disneyland Resort)

  Giveaway #1: All-in-One Company

The All-in-One Company is a wonderful company & is our sponsor of the week! They make custom onesies for ALL bodies & EVERY body. One of their motto’s is that no one is different, but everyone is unique!

They prove their commitment to that motto with everything from custom fabric type (I’m more of a jersey than a fleece gal), patterns, pockets, ears, tails, and a million other perfect details! The All-in-One Company utilizes custom sizing, suggested sizing (from newborn to 5XL). Preston & I already have PERFECT onesies (that we look adorable in, BTW!).

These onesies are the most Snuggletastic delight to grace the Darling household since Charlie! They’re handmade by the The All-in-One Company team in the UK! Find out more about their story here!

FOLLOW THE ALL-IN-ONE COMPANY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM TWITTER YOUTUBE WEBSITE

  Giveaway #2: Harvey’s of California

For this giveaway, I’ll be gifting one of these adorable Toy Story bags featuring the Pizza Planet aliens! This Harvey’s of California signature seat belt bag is a total exclusive!

These little alien guys were my favorite characters in Toy Story growing up (and my mom’s too!), so when I saw that Harvey’s had a new line inspired by Disney’s Toy Story, I knew I HAD to have one (and Harvey’s gifted me a second one to giveaway!). Shop the rest of this line here, partner!

Check out Harvey’s on Social Media

Facebook Instagram

  Giveaway #3: $200 ModCloth Gift Card

Ya’ll know that ModCloth are MY PEOPLE! ModCloth is actually what started my fashion obsession about five years ago! If I were Citizen Kane, ModCloth would be my rosebud. Ha!

ModCloth is a size inclusive, retro-inspired, & quirky clothing company is a total gem for finding about half my wardrobe! The total unique prints (both made in house & stockists of smaller boutique labels!) has something for every body from XXS-4X (or 0-30 approx.).

Check out ModCloth on social media here:

Facebook Instagram Twitter

Giveaway #4: $150 Curvy Couture Intimates Gift Card

So I wear a 44G cup. (is that TMI? I don’t care). It’s a big freaking bra. it has provided a never-ending amount of stress in my life. My bras are ALWAYS expensive, ALWAYS in boring colors, ALWAYS marketed to ‘slim’ me, and always a little uncomfortable somewhere.

When I found Curvy Couture – all of their bras WERE UNDER $60 (a thing that has literally never once happened to me). with some even being under $50, available in a millions colors and fabric types, and with an EXTENSIVELY awesome size selection!

Bonus: I have a promo code: ABBY20 for 20% your whole order! Baller. (so theoretically you could get a new bra for like $35) Shop my dusty rose set here!

Check out Curvy Couture on Social Media: 

Facebook Twitter Instagram

  Giveaway #5: $150 Unique Vintage Giveaway

This vintage inspired & size inclusive site is a RETRO dream! Unique Vintage has sizes XS-5x (with new size charts, if you haven’t checked it out!).

Unique Vintage has their site divided into ERA! How cool is that? They go from 1920’s-1970’s inspired clothing! I have pieces from almost every era-inspired line! Bonus: not only does Unique Vintage have adorable pieces & an exclusive label, but they also have exclusive collabs with brands like Disney, Barbie, & Pantone!

Check out Unique Vintage on Social Media

Facebook Twitter Instagram

  Giveaway #6: Vermont Teddy Bear Factory Hunka Love

Ya’ll know how much I lovelovelove The Professor….aka, my SIX FOOT TEDDY BEAR! He’s such a cute and spoopy addition to our home and he came all the way from the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory to live with us!He’s so soft, comfy, and cute and definitely a conversation starter!

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, in Burlington, Vermont, is a place that makes handcrafted bears with love and care in every stitch!

For this giveaway, I’ll be giving away a 4′ Big Hunka Love® Bear from the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. Your new friend will be a liiiiiiittle smaller than my bear, but equally as cuddly and fun!

Check out VTB on Social Media!

Facebook Twitter Instagram

  Giveaway #7: $150 Avenue Gift Card

Avenue is, as ya’ll know, one of my FAVE places to shop…because I like everything! I have work out gear, shoes, bras, panties, dresses, skirts, swimsuits, blouses, faux leather jackets, graphic tees and sweatshirts, jammies, and anything else you can think of!

This plus sized company has a varied selection for all different body types! Avenue goes from size 14-32 or 14-32 and is a big range for plus sized bodies!

Bonus: I wear Avenue undies literally every single day. 10/10 would recommend for a friend!

Check out Avenue on Social Media! 

Facebook Twitter Instagram

  Extra Entries!

Follow any of these AMAZING shops who sent me some awesome and lovely birthday gifts from 5/16-5/23 for extra entries for any post!

  Parks & Recs Candle Set by C & E Craft Co.

Ya’ll know how much your girl is totally a Leslie Knope type. I identify with approximately 99% of her quirks, lines, and plots! So these AMAZING-Knope-approved candles set (like Little Sebastian, JJ’s Diner, & Treat Yo’ Self) are richly scented and long burning!

I got this set from C & E Craft Company out of Pennsylvania! Check them out on Etsy here, and follow them on their socials here: Facebook & Instagram

  Recreational Pipes from MudHedz

These totally gorgeous, hand crafted, and adorable ceramic pipes from MudHedz are AMAZING. They are so perfect for some recreational needs and they are totally a show stopper! I got one for a friend a few years ago for Christmas and I’ve been obsessed ever since!

Check out MudHez here! Check out the pickle pipe here & the conch pipe here!

Follow MudHedz on Facebook & Etsy & Instagram

  Go-Go Gryffindor Glitter Candle

I fought it for years, pretending to be a Ravenclaw, but I’m totally a Gryffindor. This House Pride Candle from Geeky Girl Scents. This candle has a hazelnut coffee scent, is speckled with gold glitter, and is long lasting and delightful!

I got this set from Geeky Girl Scents! Check them out on Etsy here, Facebook, & Twitter, & Instagram!

  Check out these games from PlayMonster!

Preston & I lovelovelove board games and I was gifted a bunch of board games and now we can’t stop competing! Ha! (spoiler alert! I’m up!). Check out where to shop these here!

My faves are Utter Nonsense & The Game of Things! I am always laughing like a lunatic when I play these with our game group!

  May the odds be ever in your favor!

Thank you to all of the wonderful sponsors, companies, friends, and family that are making this possible! Be sure to check out the rules, how to get extra entries, and be following me & checking me out on social media!

  *This post is sponsored by the above listed companies with generous gifting as well! Thank you to all! However, all thoughts & opinions are my own!

SO HERE’S THE “END OF BLOG” SPIEL!

If you are at all interested in doing a collab or working with me – please feel free to check out my new Contact Me! page! I also do social media consulting and photography, so please reach out! Let’s work together!

Follow me on Instagram: @thepennydarling

Like my Facebook page here!

Follow me on Twitter here!

Subscribe for updates!

If you’d like to donate to help me keep Penny Darling going – click here!

Comment for topics you would like to see me cover! Like to help my self esteem! What do you think so far? More fashion? More lifestyle? Do you like the mix?

Thank you for all that you do. You are truly extraordinary.

Love all you wonderful ladies (and gents!) out there!

How Very,

Abby

Birthday Week Giveaway Kick-Off! Check out the rules & what I'm giving away & how to get extra entries! Happy HUUUUUMP Day, ya'll! Preston and I have had a VERY busy...month, actually, and it's not slowing down anytime soon!

[boxyladies]

I recently received the Norvina Palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills ($42) as a surprise from my bestie Melissa, and it inspired me to bring back the palette series I began last year.

Since I started the Boxy Ladies Palette series, Instagram Stories got bigger and bigger, so recently, I have begun sharing more of my daily makeup looks there, rather than a regular Instagram post, so definitely make sure to follow us on Instagram and check out our stories to catch all of my latest makeup looks, lil makeup hauls, unboxings and random flat lays I create at 6:30am at the gym bathroom. (Hey, they have a white marble counter, so it’s Instagram-approved!) 

Just to give a bit of background on the Norvina palette, Norvina is the daughter of Anastasia, of Anastasia Beverly Hills. So the Norvina palette is essentially all of her favorite shades. Norvina is a striking woman, and she’s very bold in her looks. She has had various hair colors over the year including hot pink and purple most recently. She is basically the personification of the unicorn emoji. 

When I first saw the promo pictures of the Norvina palette, I thought it was totally gorgeous. However, I noticed it was mostly a neutral palette with a few pops of color, so it wasn’t a palette I was immediately drawn to. Like, it’s very beautiful but is it for me? I wasn’t sure. But I knew I didn’t need to be first in line to get it, having learned my lesson from Subculture. 

I was totally surprised when it showed up at my house, courtesy of Melissa. She and I hadn’t talked about it, so it was just a total surprise. Because I hadn’t been manically checking out every single review and dozens of tutorials in preparation for receiving it, I had more of an open mind because I was just excited to start playing with it! I really wasn’t expecting to feel this way, but it just made me excited about makeup again! I was really excited to use it every day and come up with different looks with it. 

Here are a few videos I made on Instagram Stories. I don’t have the best way to insert them, but they are just 15-second close-ups! 

Here is a close-up video of the shadows!

Here are the swatches of the shimmer shadows.

Here are the swatches of the matte shadows!

And finally, below are some of the looks I came up with over the week I used the palette regularly. 

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Final Grade: A

I loved this palette! I think the formula is really, really nice – it is more like the Modern Renaissance formula than Subculture, so if you were nervous about that, I think you will be happy. Several of the shades DID have some kick-up, but if you remember you just need a light touch, I think you will be fine! I think the shades blended so beautifully. I had a slight issue with Soul, the matte lavender shade, but it’s quite possible that it was just user error. For the most part, I thought the palette worked beautifully, and I was happy with almost all of the looks I came up with this week. (More on the “almost” in a second.) I will note that I mostly used my fingers for the shimmers, which I think is the best way to apply most shimmer shades in general. I think you get much better color payoff than when you use a brush, though you could probably get a way with using a flat synthetic brush with some Fix+ to get a similar effect, but I do think using your fingers on those kinds of shades is best. 

One of the biggest criticisms about this palette, and one of the observations that I had, is that this IS mostly a neutral palette.

ABH Norvina

ABH Soft Glam

There was also criticism that it was very similar to the ABH Soft Glam palette ($42), which was the the last palette ABH released. Soft Glam is a very neutral palette, and though beautiful, I didn’t feel like I needed it. (However, if it magically showed up at my house the way Norvina did, I wouldn’t hate it. 🙂 ) So if I was someone who already owned Soft Glam, I might be a little disappointed in the similarities from Norvina to Soft Glam. But since I skipped Soft Glam, I found Norvina to be an extremely versatile palette! 

I really liked the darker colors at the far right of the palette the best: Drama and Passion. I think those burgandy-ish colors really bring out my green eyes a lot, so I am very drawn to them. (FYI, those were the colors I wore during the photoshoot where everything looks really grey/silver. It was right after I got my hair done, so I was trying to get some fun pics of my hair, too!) I really liked mixing Incense and Love to make a rosy-ish brown transition rather than a plain pink or plain brownish transition. I used that combo on most looks I came up with. I really liked the shade Love, because it’s a really dusty pink – a lot more subtle than other pinks that I own, and so it’s quite pretty.

OK, I lied about Drama and Passion being the best shades – Rose Gold is really the best shade in the palette. How could I have forgotten? It was the first shade I was drawn to, swatched like a dream, but then looked so pretty on the eye. It’s like a deeper, more burgandy rose gold than the lighter pink rose golds I tend to think of, so I thought it was really unique. I think that will be the color I end up using the most from this palette. It’s very easy to use a quick transition shade (I might honestly use one of my shadow singles as a transition over some of the shades in this palette for that particular look) and then swiping Rose Gold all over the lid as a one-and-done kind of color. If they make Rose Gold as a single shadow, you definitely need to buy it immediately. I think this shade will definitely make blue and green eyes POP. 

I also really enjoyed using the neutral shades in this palette. While I do like experimenting with color a lot, I really have been enjoying a lot of more neutral looks recently. I liked doing a very light, warm brown eye with Incense, Volatile and Eccentric with Summer, the lighter gold shade, all over the lid. I had this idea for a very classic look with a very neutral eye and a tomato red lip, so these shades were beautiful for that, and I really loved the look I came up with. 

Ironically, since this is a purple palette, and Norvina the person loves purple so much, I really didn’t love the lavender/purple shades in this palette. Soul, the matte lavender-ish color was really strange to me. I may just need to play with it more, but it’s such a muted lavender that it came off very bruise-like on me, and I really wasn’t super happy with my makeup look that day. I think the shimmery purple, Celestial, is very gorgeous, but it’s just not an every day color for me, ya know? I actually thought I would like it a lot more than I did. Since my hair is so icy right now, I thought I would really be drawn to those shades more! But maybe I will experiment with both Celestial and Soul on my lower lashline to see if I can get a look that I am happier with in the future! 

I do think I like Wild Child, the shimmery pink more than I like Celestial. I can see myself using that more regularly as sort of a light, one-and-done type lid look, because it’s such a pretty pink/gold duochrome. The day I used it, I was working half of the day, so I didn’t want to go all out, so I used a mix of Incense/Love in the crease and Wild Child all over, and I thought it looked really nice! Like, I looked pulled-together but also didn’t really look like I was trying too hard. I don’t think it photographed too well, so I’m not sure if that will be included in the looks above, but I did like it! 

I haven’t mentioned it because it’s kind of a boring shade, but Base is definitely a great workhorse shade for setting your eyeshadow base, (which is obvs what it was included for) and also great for highlighting browbone a bit! I really enjoyed Dreamer for a nice inner corner highlight pop, however, I do feel like it helped to spray my brush a bit with some Fix+ to prevent fall-out, and to make it pop a bit more. The one shade I didn’t use is Dazzling, but I didn’t find it to be particularly unique. However, it swatched beautifully and felt exactly like Rose Gold and Summer, so I’m sure it would wear and apply exactly the same. 

All in all, I really loved Norvina, and I look forward to playing with it more. If you were thinking of getting it but you were worried it would be too powdery/not blend well like Subculture, I think you will be really happy with it. If you have Soft Glam, you may not also need Norvina – you might be able to find some single shadow dupes of the lavender/pink shades. However, if you wear a lot of neutrals but you are also drawn to some pastel-y colors, I think you will really, really love this palette! 

A big thank you to Melissa for sending this palette my way! Are y’all interested in picking it up? Let me know! I’m actually going to Baltimore to see Melissa AND JILL this weekend, so I hope I’ll be able to get some great pics of Jill and I so y’all can actually see us together! Jill, Melissa and I have this iconic picture of the three of us from like 10 years ago that we hope to re-create. If we do, I’ll try to post both pics on the blog next week! 🙂 

The next palette I’m going to play with for the palette series is the Melt Twenty Seven palette ($58) that I received for my birthday! I’m really excited to start playing with it, and seeing what looks I can come up with! 

xo, Lauren

The Boxy Ladies Palette Series Returns Featuring The ABH Norvina Palette! I recently received the Norvina Palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills ($42) as a surprise from my bestie Melissa, and it inspired me to bring back the palette series I began last year.