I don't know what I've been smoking, but I completely forgot to blog these bags! So, that's why I'm frantically getting these blogs out over the next couple of weeks. This particular bag, I distinctly remember taking pictures of all of the products, but I don't know what I did with the pictures! So I had to do it all over again. *sigh* 

In any case, September's BB Bag theme is "K Beauty Must-Haves," essentials every K-beauty addict needs. 

Total value: 

Just under $72.00

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do for fall, so I decided to just jump into plaids. I had some metal crown nail deco that I hadn't used yet, so I figured that pairing it with plaid would go nicely. For some reason, plaid and crowns make me think of 1980's London punk rock. Vivienne Westwood. Things like that. 

Kauai is not the kind of place where you think of chic shops and little boutiques. That might be the curse of living in a major tourist destination where the major draw is nature, beaches and tropics. But there are locals here, and although we like beaches and nature as much as the next tourist, we have lives to live. Not everyone likes to accessorize with rattan and wicker and tropical prints a la The Golden Girls. City dwellers take for granted that they can stroll into a Target or a TJ Maxx and get chic home accents, and simple things like cute planners and notebooks. They don't think twice about having hip areas with shops of all sorts that they can peruse on their lunch break. All we can do is bite our bottom lips and look on in envy. 

There's also a wide selection of cards for any occasion.

The bag was pretty ugly. #keepingitreal

This was the first 3-step mask I ever used, and I liked it alot! The eye patches threw me for a loop, because they just feel plasticky, but after you put them on, you put the mask over it, and they just dissolve into your skin. Very cool! I liked the overall feel of this mask, which contains plant extracts and other skin-boosting ingredients. 

This is a headband, to hold your hair back while you indulge in skincare. 

It's got velcro, which is nice. 

This has quickly become my favorite moisturizer. It contains 75% prickly pear extract, which is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It feels substantial, without feeling heavy on your skin, and doesn't leave much of a sticky feeling. My skin feels really soft in the morning. 

This toner. So, it's supposed to reduce the "severity of active blemishes while simultaneously brightening dark spots due to scarring or sun damage." So this toner is viscous. Not super thick, but it's definitely not like a conventional toner, which is very watery. This one is slightly thicker. I gave this a try on two separate occasions, thinking my timing was wrong (maybe I was hormonal the first time), but, no. Both times I used this product for a week, and my face just broke out. Pimples, red ones, and they were sore. Me and green tea do not get along, it seems. I gave this one to a friend. The bottle is very large, though, and feels nice because it's a nice, heavy glass. 

I'm not a huge fan of Tsaio products so far. I haven't tried this one yet, but I don't have high hopes. This is supposed to extract sebaceous fillaments and blackheads and improve the appearance of pores. We will see...

Mystery Lip Product ($6.50)

My mystery gift was the Greenharmony pear mask pack. I think it's for lips, but I'm not 100% sure, so I haven't used it yet for that reason. Have you used it? Is it for lips? Can someone clarify this for me? 😃

Did you like this BB Bag? What was your favorite?

The palette comes in a box, which is identical in design to the palette itself.

Praise the lord, it's not fuzzy! That means I can keep it clean! It's also the same height as the Modern Renaissance palette, but about an inch shorter in length. You could easily stick this in your purse. The palette comes with a nice sized mirror, and a double-sided brush.

Brush swatch of the top row

Here is the bottom row, finger swatched, and the picture below is brush swatches.

So, I find that Bronx and Claudia were difficult to brush swatch properly. I don't know if the formula is different from the other shadows, but it was definitely more difficult to swatch them and keep them looking metallic. I feel like when I  used a brush, it lost the metallic sheen. The mattes also didn't brush swatch as nicely as the metallics did. So overall, for me, Modern Renaissance brush swatched better than the Master Palette. But you know, sometimes a lackluster brush swatch can look great on the lids. 

Two colors, applied in haste with my finger

The first two pics are of the same look. The colors that I had problems with, like Claudia, came out pretty nice on the lids. However, Claudia did end up just looking like a matte shadow. It lost it's sheen, and that was disappointing. The same goes for Bronx (in the last picture), which also lost its sheen when it was applied to the lids. The colors are still very pigmented though, and do blend nicely. I've never had any problems with any of these shadows when it comes to blending. 

So let's break it down: 

Pros: 

Lots of great shimmers

Super pigmented

Very Blendable 

Double ended brush

Nice sized mirror 

No fuzzy packaging! 

Cons: 

More expensive than the Modern Renaissance palette

Less shadows than the Modern Renaissance palette

Only three matte shades 

Claudia and Bronx don't look very metallic when applied to the lids 

Lackluster brush provided in the kit 

So which do I prefer? The Modern Renaissance palette, in my opinion, is great for everyday looks as it has more neutral colors and a lot more mattes. I do love the shades in the Master Palette, though, and I'm glad that I have shimmer options that are great quality. I find that, when I have events to go to, I reach for the Master Palette. But sometimes, I just take one shade from the Master Palette, put it on my lids, and head out the door. So I guess it's safe to say that I like them both equally, for different reasons. I would definitely recommend both of them.