Maybe kind of late, but still helpful, I think. There’s not a lot I can say about my October favorites, because while I did hoard towards the end of the month, I only got to use most of them extensively in November, pre-makeup ban*. Here are a few stand-outs that I have loved last month.

1. Guerlain Écrin 4 Coueleurs Eyeshadow in Turandot (Reviewed here)

Turandot is part of Guerlain’s Holiday 2012 collection. It’s a “Écrin 4 Coueleurs Eyeshadow,” which is just a fancy way of saying “eyeshadow quad.” How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Actually, it’s not all that complicated. It’s an upstanding palette, with a very warm and neutral overall look, but all the individual shades are still quite different from each other. There’s a pretty shimmery goldenrod, a rust-rose satin pink, a matte deep mauve, and a shimmery dark grey-brown, all rolled into one delicious pocket-sized wonder, mmm.

How happy am I that this isn’t limited edition? Very.

2. Bronzer
No specific brand—just the wonder of bronzer in general. I mean, why haven’t I ventured into this wondrous thing that makes my face look all warm-like before? Lately, I’ve been using some bronzer pearl things from L’Oreal that my mom keeps on her vanity, but a Physician’s Formula bronzer compact just arrived, so I’ll be test driving that one soon.

Ah, bronzer.

3. K-Palette Cover Control 0 Kuma Concealer (02 Yellow Beige)
I haven’t reviewed this, but I do have a “looks” draft somewhere here, which is the moment that I first used concealer on my under eye area and realized how big of a difference it made on my own face. I bought a tea tree oil concealer from The Body Shop, which came in the form of a stick. It wasn’t very impressive, so I gave up on concealers. Until my sister urged me to try this one of hers. So now, I filch it all the time.

4. Guerlain Météorites x Emilio Pucci in Perles d’Azur (Review here)

Guerlain Météorites. The one product you should never even bother rationalizing to people. “What does it do?” they might ask. I guarantee you that you will spend at least twenty minutes trying to explain, with your speech quickly falling into the familiar pattern of “justifying a luxury purchase.” I’m warning you, Person Filled with Wondrous Hope, you are fighting a losing battle. Quit while you’re ahead.

Vain Jane Writes about the Météorites effect. I’ve tried explaining what it does to several people, despite their dubious expressions, and when they ask “How much was that again?” I know that I have been defeated.

Now, I don’t even bother explaining it (unless someone genuinely interested asks). I just enjoy basking in my radiant glow.

5. bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadows

The Ready eyeshadows from bareMinerals are the pressed counterpart of the loose mineral shadows they have been known for. They are extremely pigmented, very buttery and they go on smooth. I stumbled upon them when I went inside a Sephora branch in a train station in France, and ended up buying a duo called The Scenic Route. I have yet to review it, but it led to me buying a limited edition quad called The Happy Place, reviewed here.

I love looking at the reviews for these shadows online, and imagining what my next purchase would be. I’m on a makeup ban right now, but when that lifts, I’ll probably get a few more of these babies, because they are just that darned good.

So, that’s it! Pretty long for something I said was going to be pretty short. I dread my November favorites post…

Thanks for reading!

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* The makeup ban was imposed by Sarie—during the height of holiday releases, curses!—to help curb my splurging on makeup. It has worked well so far, but I feel like I’m going to break soon because holiday collections! The pretties!

Anyway, that is the story of the makeup ban.