life & style // no. 12 theotherpress.ca Beauty on a Budget: Urban Decay On the Run Mini Palette » A new staple mini-palette from Urban Decay Photo by Lauren Kelly Lauren Kelly Graphics Manager few months ago, Urban Decay (UD) eleased a line of On the Run palettes. The collection consists of three eight- shadow palettes inspired by the larger, 21-colour Born to Run palette. I purchased the Bailout palette, which has four matte and two glitter neutrals along with a dark, vivid purple shimmer and a light purple transformer shade. My favourite shades in the palette are Chopper, a copper shade with fine-milled glitter, and Rebound, a deep brown matte. However, T use every shade in the palette except for Vice, UD's trademark purple. The other two mini-palette options are Detour and Shortcut. Detour is filled with very warm neutrals as well as a deep teal and light aqua transformer shade, and Shortcut is filled with pinks and berries with a red transformer shade. Since I purchased Bailout I've used it every day, replacing my UD Naked Basics palette. If you prefer to wear neutral eyeshadows—like I do—it is capable of The Pour Boy: Essentials to get your home bar started >» The tools of the trade Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Li any worthwhile hobby, there’s an initial cost for getting into homemade cocktails. Don't let financial setups hold you back though—there’s nothing on this list you can’t buy for $15 brand-new or acquire for half that much at a second-hand store. Shop around, ignore the fancy add-ons that some kits come with, and go for just the basics—for now. The first and most important thing any home bar needs is a cocktail shaker. Even before I was a cocktail person, I somehow owned a shaker, as did many of my friends. My hypothesis for this anomaly is that people love the idea of owning a cocktail shaker but never considered actually using one. If you already have a shaker, that’s fantastic—just ensure it has all the pieces, including the lid and strainer. Another home bar essential that you likely already own is a shot glass. Maybe it’s a souvenir or was left behind from the last party you hosted—but almost every kitchen has at least one shot glass. It’s usually lurking at the back of some seldom- used cupboard. If you're just starting out, any ol’ shot glass will work for mixing drinks. However, at some point down the line, you might want to invest in a jigger. Jiggers are hourglass-shaped and have cups on either side to measure specific ounces (usually 0.5 and 1.5 oz). If you opt fora jigger, avoid the glass ones, which havea tendency to shatter at the slightest impact. The measuring lines also scratch off in the dishwasher, which makes the jigger nearly useless for measuring anything. Do yourself a favour and invest in a metal one to save yourself some grief later. Cocktails love their citrus fruit, so you'll also want to own some kind of juicing instrument. The lemon juicer that literally everyone owns from IKEA will suffice, but again, if you want to invest in something nicer, handheld juicers only cost $12 to $14 and are a lot easier to use. Make sure you purchase a metal juicer though; similar to the glass jigger, a plastic juicer will often break after only a few uses. If you're scraping by on a barebones budget, the first three items listed are all you need to get started. If you're eager to flesh out the rest of your bar setup, however, keep reading. Some of the best cocktails (sup, nearly any look. The lighter neutrals can be used to achieve a nice everyday look, while the deep browns and glitter shades can create a more exciting evening look. Pickup, the transformer shade, can be put over any of the other shades to give them a beautiful lavender shimmer. For those who are more adventurous than me, Vice adds a dose of extra interest—just in case you decide to get smoky. These colours wear very well on me and seem quite pigmented, even though I don't usually wear primer. The only downside is that the glitter shadows do have fallout, so make sure to watch for that and do your best to mitigate it. I'ma fan of this product’s packaging as well. Each pan is quite large, even though the palette itself isn't, and the top of the palette houses a mirror. This makes for a great palette to throw in your purse or makeup bag—hence the collection name— which is exactly what I'm looking for. These palettes sell for $32 each at Sephora and the Urban Decay flagship stores. I've only used Bailout, but I would recommend whichever one fits your personal style. Moscow Mules) call for crushed ice rather than cubes, so purchasing an ice bag and mallet will go a long way. Sure, you could improvise with something like a plastic baggie and a rolling pin, but you won't get ice as picturesque—and you'll probably rip the bag in the process. At the same time, mallets specifically for crushing ice are weirdly expensive, so feel free to diverge and buy a regular kitchen mallet for cheaper instead. Bar spoons are another item where you don't really need one, but it’s nice to have. Having a single bar spoon makes it easier to stir any drinks served in tall, narrow glasses. It’s also handy for scooping things out, so you may as well shell out a few bucks for a basic bar spoon. The last item often advertised as a cocktail essential, but far from necessary, is a muddler. Muddlers are used to crush fruit and herbs to activate their flavours. Think mint leaves in juleps or mojitos. Depending on what kinds of cocktails you prefer, you can probably skip this purchase, but similar to everything else on this list, muddlers are usually less than $10. However, if you have a mortar and pestle, this will also do the same thing—and you can pretend you're some type of alcohol witch, which is fun. If you're thrifty and shop around, everything on this list can be easily acquired for less than $50 total. The majority of these items are also built to last, so you'll be whipping up cocktails for years to come before having to replace any of the gear.