america hot: Bobbi Brown and Auraline Beauty

Since I have to save basically all my money to spend at/buy clothes for college, I've been really into multi-purpose, super versatile makeup products lately. I mean, getting one look out of a product is fine, but getting 5, 10, even 15 looks out of it is so much better, right? Here are a few great investment products from Auraline Cosmetics and Bobbi Brown that are sure to get you through the summer in style.

78 Color Multi Palette, $18 at auralinebeauty.com, 88 Color Multi Palette, $18 at auralinebeauty.com, 15 Color Eye Shadow Palette - smoky, $25 at auralinebeauty.com: My friend picked one of these palettes up at the IMAT convention a piece weeks ago, and she loves it. I know nothing about Auraline Beauty, but these palettes remind me of the Bobbi Brown brights palette, with the M&M sized neon shadows, except a lot cheaper. The palette on the left has a ton of shadows as well as bigger sizes of the most popular shadows and 6 different blushes, the middle palette has 88 little shadows, and the right palette has a mix of vampier and highlight shades to create the perfect smoky eye. I like all of these because they're cheap, first of all, they're a great deal because you get a ton of shadows, and the quality is pretty darn good. I know that the shadows look really small, but since they're such bright colors you aren't going to be using a lot of shadow at a time, so a smaller size is actually a better idea for colors this festive.

Bobbi Brown Nude Shimmer Brick, $38 at bobbibrowncosmetics.com, Bobbi Brown Nude Eye Palette, $60 at bobbibrowncosmetics.com, Bobbi Brown Long-wear Gel Eyeliner in Cavair Ink, $21 at bobbibrowncosmetics.com: Bobbi Brown is one of those brands that I love and don't actually own any of, which makes me so sad! Especially when I see these gorgeous shimmer bricks. All of these pieces are from her Nude collection (who does nude better than Bobbi Brown, really?). I must have this shimmer brick. It's the perfect highlighter color because it's warm, with gold and caramel shades, but it's light and fresh enough to look natural, like a candlelit glow from within. Plus, these things are huge, so $38 isn't that bad. I'm in love with this palette. It could work for anything! The two shades on the right are fantastic highlighters, the middle shades are great base colors, and the shades on the right are perfect for the lash line and crease. You could mix these up to create a week's worth of looks, and when you multiply that by how long the palette will last you, its' really a steal at $60. I'm not a fan of gel eyeliners (I generally find them to be way too harsh and hard to work with), but the soft, deep brown shade of this liner might bring me over to the dark side. It's dark enough to do a cat eye with, but much softer than the average black.