A cult favorite among beauty enthusiasts, Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette ($54, ulta.com) is easily one of my favorites, too. So when I saw Maybelline’s suspiciously similar The Blushed Nudes palette ($9.99, ulta.com) I knew I had to see how the two compared. The rose-hued neutrals are perfect for summer and a lighter fall look, plus the varied shades of either palette can work for day or night. After scooping up both items at my nearest Ulta, I got to work (and possibly spent entirely way too many hours in front of the mirror experimenting with these gorgeous shades!) Read on for my complete break-down of each aspect of Naked 3 and The Blushed Nudes, plus a full review and comparison of the two products.

Ciara caught our attention at The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles with her wear-now, wear-later ensemble that's perfect for summer to fall dressing. The key piece is her Bouchra Jarrar leopard print bomber-style coat ($2,175, farfetch.com) but we found a lightweight leopard print cardigan that will work in all seasons. Then to keep the focus on her statement coat, Ciara added a simple white t-shirt, distressed jeans (don't want to be boring after all) and a barely there ankle-strap heel - a style that's always sexy without overdoing it. We're giving her major style points for this red-carpet look that would get snapped by streetstyle photographers in a heartbeat.

Welcome back to Fashion Capsule! Thank you again for giving me such amazing feedback week after week. I hope you’re having as much fun reading this column as I'm having writing it. In this weekly segment, I'll show you how to style three items under $50 for an entire week’s worth of outfits. This week I was feeling very monochromatic, channeling outfits that combine separates in one color for an overall tonal look that's anything but boring. Let’s get started!

Welcome to our weekly linkup party! As summer is heating up, this week we're turning our attention to some refreshing drinks, from a good-for-you tropical smoothie to easy cocktail ideas. Plus we're giving away a $50 Sephora giftcard!

Want to be featured as our Funday Linkup Fave of the Week? Add your links using the InLinkz widget at the end of this post. We're posting our top pick weekly on all three of our blogs + Facebook! Share this post with fellow partygoers on social tagging @budgetbabe #FundayLinkup

Visit my co-hosts Bon Bon Rose Girls and Fab Fatale for more inspiration.

Yesterday was a momentous occasion for me. I mustered up the courage to shop the Nordstrom Annviersary Sale and in so doing, I overcame some strange, suppressed fear/anxiety dating back to my childhood of shopping at expensive department stores. Hey, some people are afraid of spiders, while I, crazy lady, would get totally stressed out by shopping at certain stores. So I avoided them. But you'll be happy to know that all of that is a thing of the past, because yesterday I totally conquered the NSale! All the sales associates I talked to were helpful and friendly (okay, almost all of them, one seemed immensely annoyed when I didn't want to order something online that was out-of-stock in store), I found a lot of good deals and left with some pieces I feel really happy with. I even opened a Nordstrom credit card (for research purposes mostly) and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Nordstrom cafe.

Ok, enough with the boring stuff, let's get on with the sale!