So about that new Tarte palette...[TMO]

Tarte, Tarte, Tarte. I think it's time to calm down. But think about what they wanted to accomplish. They wanted to compete with Too Faced. And they are doing just that.

Given Tarte's past w/ racism, I don't feel the need to buy anything from them anymore. So why am I going to do this TMO, right here, right now?

Because Tarte is not going to win. Not like this. Not ever.

Behold: Becca Ocean Jewels, Huda Desert Dusk, the Sweet Peach, the Naked Three, the Jaclyn Morphe palette, the Kathleen Lights Dream St. palette etc. etc. etc. 

I can't give you a price yet. But I can say, quite emphatically, that this is not a summer palette. Summer is supposed to be sunny and bright, but the colors look muted.

The swatches make this look like every single palette that's been coming out:

screen grab

But those blues. Of course, the blues. So you know that of course this palette is different.

There is no reason to buy this. Except, of course, for the packaging. The palette is housed in a seashell compact that is covered in iridescent/holographic green-blue.

For me, the contents do not justify the packaging. But Tarte hardly cares about that.

This is an easy pass for me.

Buh-bye!

FoTD- Orange Matte Gradient (text post)

Argh, I wish I didn't fall asleep with my eyeshadow on and therefore ruin it and therefore I cannot take a presentable picture of my look today.

But, using my descriptive skills, I will paint for you a vivid picture of what I wore on my face today.

So, my alarm was set for 4:45 AM. I woke up, then fall back asleep, and woke up again at 5:30. So there was a bit of a rush routine involved in today's look. When I am rushing I do not use glitter shadows.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

After washing up, I used Cerave AM Lotion to moisturize. My eyelids were also a bit swollen from allergies, so I used First Aid Beauty Eye Gel to calm them down. I then did my face makeup (usually I do that after eyes, but they were watery and irritated so I saved them for last).

Face makeup: The usual foundation, with Coty Airspun to set my oilier areas.  I used Colourpop's Here Kitty Kitty highlighter, and then my current blush faves: Pixi Beach Rose mixed with Makeup Geek Puppy Love.

Then, I primed my lids and used Mac Painterly over top. In the crease, I generously blended in Pumpkin Pie (CS), a matte orange/yellow (more yellow than orange), and decided to put my ol' reliable, Burnt Orange (ABH MR) on the lid. Then, even though I was on a time crunch, I took Fudge from ABH and tried to blend that a little on the outer corner. This shade is super pigmented and a little hard to blend for me, but I think I just need to get a bit better with my technique for these kinds of shadows.

Anyway, lips were simple. I usually forget to reapply lip color and just opt for lip balm during the day.

Eyeliner was Physician's Formula, but I am running out and will have to repurchase again soon.

Overall, I liked this look a lot. I think next time I would try to incorporate the brighter colors that I recently purchased into this look, to see what happens.

Thanks for reading.

Another mini declutter!

Hey hi. I've been decluttering in little bits recently, going through my collection and really being realistic about what I use and what I don't. I think I made some progress today so I'll provide pictures and reviews!

Okay excuse the terrible lighting. Let's start from the bottom and work our way to the top.

Stila liquid eyeshadow in Diamond Dust. Woo boy. I hated this. I've never really hated a product before. Until I met this product. I thought I was being so clever, too. I research and thought that Diamond Dust would be the best choice because holographic and topper and blah blah blah. But no. It does not work like that. It takes away product on the lid, even though I dab it on, and leaves little shards that get stuck on my face and eyelids. And its painful! I am staying far away from these.

The little brown matte is an old one from The Balm's Nude 'Tude palette. I was trying to pan it, but that was not happening. So I am done.

I also was not using this light grey matte from the KvD Chrysalis palette. It just...I don't even know how it shows up on people. It certainly doesn't leave an impact on my face.

Okay, Royal Calyx from WnW. After getting the Milani palette that has a blue in it, this is not really necessary to keep. It has a lot of glitter, too, which one would not see right away. If I had read reviews ahead of time, and learned about that, I would not have purchased it.

Across Royal Calyx, we have two circle pans. The lighter, pink one is from Lunatick Cosmetic Labs, so this one pains me a bit because it was indie. However, why did I pick the most boring shade to buy??? I don't think they sell this as a single anymore, but it can be found in the Supernatural Palette. It's a cool pink sort of shimmer with a very dry formula. It got hard pan and never showed up really nice on the skin. I never used it. So we're done.

Lastly is a shade from the BH Cosmetics Foil Palette. I am getting rid of this because I actually have purples in my collection, not this ambiguous taupey-bronzey,purple thing. The vague quality of its color really threw me, and I am glad to be rid of it.

Thanks for reading.

( I also recently put in an order w/ Coastal Scents as they restocked many colors, so I look forward to talking about that!)

Battle of the BH Palettes: Zodiac vs. Carli Bybel Deluxe (CBD)

I got this idea because these are two palettes in my collection from BH Cosmetics, and they don't fit in my palette organizer. Storing them is a little awkward and annoying. Both of them are square-shaped, with the Zodiac palette being slightly larger. They both cost about $20, with the same amount of product and came out this past year.

I want to review them against each other because to me they kind of are night and day. Depending on eyeshadow preference and style, you might choose one over the other. The thing is, the both are excellent palettes, but so different. 

I. Formula

• Matte:
• The CBD palette contains very soft mattes that do not skip on me if I use them in the outer corner of my eye. In my experience, though, softer formulas such as these tend to muddy if over-blended or used with multiple colors. 
• Meanwhile, the Zodiac mattes are drier, and allow for a bit more intricacy in color layering. 
• Both palettes the mattes are not over-pigmented, and one can build them up nicely. The purples in the Zodiac palette are so good. 
• Shimmer
• CBD palette shimmers are creamy, but must be applied with a finger or over a sticky base
• the Zodiac palette shimmers are baked, and require a glitter glue to minimize fall-out. Applying with a finger or wet brush is also helpful. 

II. Shades:

• CBD palette contains very on-trend, "millenial" mattes that one can find in other popular palettes. It all gears very light, though. Highlighter shades are a bit more varied. 
• Zodiac palette has a more interesting range of colors, especially the mattes. I love them. There is some repetition in the shimmers, though. I can count three repeating "rose-gold" shimmer shade. 

III. Face Products:

• The CBD palette contains A LOT of highlighters. I think it should have been a separate palette. The amount of powder is a bit overwhelming. The formula of these highlighters is very creamy. They're okay. 
• There is one highlighter in the Zodiac Palette. It is a baked white-gold reflect powder that is NOT for the faint of heart. I like it, though. 

IV. Duds in the palette

• I only dislike two shades in the Zodiac palette: a shimmery silver, which I think should have been a lot more opaque for what it is, and a khaki green, which is just not impactful on the skin (that's a word, right?). Because of that khaki shade I ended up buying Colour Pop Team Captain, so I'd have a decent taupey-green. 
• As for the CBD palette, when it comes to the eyeshdow, there is only one dud. It is the UD Fireball "dupe," which acts like an eyeshadow "topper," meaning it has weak pigment. I don't have any patience for those. 

Takeaways?

the CBD palette is good for no fuss, easy glam looks. But the Zodiac palette is richer in tones and variety. But sometimes I am not in the mood for that. Both of them are excellent palettes, but I think concept-wise, the Zodiac palette comes out on top. Formula-wise, the CBD palette wins for me in that I can use the mattes in my outer corner without worrying out my brush skipping.

Using them together is another story, entirely!

Thanks for reading.

The Year of Blush

I am not saying this as a generalization about beauty trends overall, but I do think that there will be a shift away from highlighters. Speaking for myself, I have a medium-sized highlighter collection that I still plan on using, but recently I've become more interested in blush.

Take Makeup Geek's Puppy Love. I bought this on sale last year, determined to try a browned-toned blush. And for a year, I did not touch it because it was too pigmented, and I felt it did not blend easily. Furthermore, I did not feel I enjoyed the "apple of your cheeks" bush placement.

But I learned. I learned that I could mix blushes, and that I could be a lot more creative with blush placement. And I haven't looked back.

Last night I was doing a video interview, and I wanted my makeup to be minimal. So I took a shimmery gold and placed it all over my lid, I used mascara, Clinique's Black Honey on my lips, and a mix of Puppy Love and Pixi's Beach Rose, which is even browner than Puppy Love, but less pigmented. Using my elf kabuki brush, I stamped the blush and blended upwards to my temples, creating a really natural flushed look.

I liked it so much I wore it today. And I probably will wear it tomorrow.

What is lovely about blush is that it is timeless in a way highlighter is not. No matter what, if over-done it emphasizes texture. I've seen it ruin countless tutorials. Blush doesn't do that.

If the highlighter trend does eventually slow down, we might see an interest in matte highlighters. Whatever that means.

A Z-Palette Update!

Hi hi hi!

I wanted to give an update about the shadows and organization of my z-palette. It is a 12-pan palette from Coastal Scents. The reason I chose a 12-pan is because I have a separate extra large z-palette, but this one forces me to curate the specific ones I use daily, as well as rotate through my singles collection.

As of today, and after some decluttering, this is what the palette looks like:

So, I tried to organize by color family. Sort of.

First row: Angel Face, Soft Gold, Making Moves, Glass Bull
Second row: Pumpkin Pie, Tangy Dijon, Team Captain, Fudge
Third Row: Berries 'n Cream, Cone, Blueberry Swirl, Rosette

All in all, I think this palette definitely is "me." There's a nice balance of warm and cool, and I love all of these shadows. Except Rosette. That one is in there to force me to use it for something, but that is it.

Thanks for reading!

A Subculture Inspired EoTD

I mention a lot on this blog that even though I did not think the Subculture palette was an entirely new concept, and that the formula was a mis-step, it did incite in me an interest in dark matte shadows. Since the release of that palette, I have purchased matte yellows, greens, corals, and purples because I wanted to add a little more color to my eye looks. 

Today I decided to make an all-matte look to mimic a common look I saw being done with the Subculture palette. This was also my first time using the shade Team Captain, by Colourpop. 

First, the shades I used were:

• Angel Face (Coloured Rained)
• Pumpkin Pie (Coastal Scents)
• Tangy Dijon (Vanessa's Vanity)
• Team Captain (Colour Pop)
• Soft Gold (ABH)

So, I used Angel Face and Pumpkin Pie mixed together right above and a little bit in my crease. 

Then I took the mustard matte shade, Tangy Dijon, and blended it into my crease and even a little bit on the lid.

Then, the hardest part, I took Team Captain and patted it on my lid, carefully blending it slightly into the crease. 

For the inner corner, I used Soft Gold by ABH.

In terms of how well Team Captain performed, this color is trickier to pull off, formulation wise. It was very pigmented, and easy enough to use on the lid, but you can see how it didn't really blend in with the yellow. With flash, it appears to just sit on top of it. Without flash, it looks a lot more normal. 

All in all, I really like Team Captain, as well as this look, but I need to practice more to refine my technique. Team Captain requires a bit of finessing. 

Will I ever get eyeliner right??

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Review and Swatches: Elf Best Friend Eyeshadow Duos

Good morning! Today I have a review for a sort of new product by elf called the Best Friend

Eyeshadow Duo.

I picked these up at my local Target as they just put them out, but the duos have been available for online purchase since last summer. The reason I did not do this is because I don’t really like the idea of having to buy something online that is $3.00, and having to pay shipping for it.

On that note, let's go over the specs. The two duos I'm going to be reviewing today are the Peach Squad Duo, and the Tea for Two Duo.

As I mentioned before, each duo costs $3. They contain 3 g of product each. This means that each pan in the duo contains 1.5 g of product.

Peach Squad contains a warm toned gold, almost bronze, as well as a matte peach. Tea for Two is cooler-toned, and contains what appears to be a pink shimmer, as well as a cream colored matte.

Tea for Two (l), Peach Squad (r)

Tea for Two (top), Peach Squad (bottom)

After swatching and using both of these products, I do have to say that the mattes are the stronger performers. The shimmers give an almost glossy look, and are not your typical shimmer formula. They're not chunky. The shimmer in Tea for Two appears very pink in the pan, but once I swatched it with my finger, I noticed it was definitely on the warmer, slightly orange side.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the shimmer shadows. On the packaging, elf suggests that the lightest eyeshadow should be used as a base while the darker shimmer shadow should be used on the outer half of the eye lid, over the matte  shade. I tried this today,  over the Wet ‘n Wild eyeshadow primer, and I don't feel that the gold really showed up in my eye. After using that particular shimmer, I even noticed small bits of hard pan developing.

However, I will definitely be using the matte shades in the future. I am very much drawn to the peach matte, which is quite pigmented when swatched. However, blending it out in the crease is another story. While it did well on the lid, over primer, I felt it lost a alittle bit of color once it got into the crease. While it was not drastic, I think it will best be used as a more subtle transition, and a lid shade.

I also wanted to compare the matte peach in the peach Squad duo with a peach matte from the Wet ‘n Wild Not a Basic Peach palette. While I really like the peach shade in the Wet ‘n Wild palette, I have gone through a lot of it, because it takes quite a bit of building up to get any vibrancy and intensity on the eye.

elf (top), Wet 'n Wild (bottom)

While both are very similar, the elf took two swipes to build up, while the Wet 'n Wild one took three.  So, neither of them are my ideal matte peach, but I do prefer the elf one more.

So how should one use the Shadows? Primer is a must. I would use the shimmers directly on the primer. Elf even suggests to use them wet, but I'm concerned about how that might create hard pan. I feel as though you could create really pretty looks from this, especially if you're on the go.

These are only $3 so I don't feel as though I was ripped off. However I don't think I should have bought the Tea for Two Duo. It doesn't really add anything new to my collection.

All in all, I am not wowed by the Elf duos, but I do think they have the potential to be useful.

Thanks so much for reading!

Bronzer Collection and Declutter (1)

Evening!

Today I thought I'd make a quick post on the bronzers in my collection, and which one I ultimately decided to give up.

As of now, a bronzing product I've been really loving is the Jordana Creamy Contour Stick. I think it is the perfect level of warmth, and blends really well. I've been using it all this week so far.

Next, the only higher-end bronzer in my collection is the Shiseido Oil-Free Bronzer in light. I am still keeping this because it is a very natural, very long-lasting product and I need to use more of it!

I am also keeping a newer bronzer in my collection, the Hard Candy boxed bronzer in the shade Party Girl. This is a very shimmery bronzer that is nearly rose-toned, so I like to use this as a sort of bronzer sort of blush.

I've come to appreciate the Wet 'n Wild Contouring Powder in Dulce de Leche. I bought it knowing that many people like it, but not really feeling like I knew what to do with it. I use the cream-color side for eyeshadow base, and the "contour" side for bronzing, and I feel both work great. The powders are very soft and blendable.

Finally, the bronzer that I am decluttering the is NYC Sunny bronzer. I know this is a bit blasphemous, but I really have tried to make this work but I hate the formula and the smell of the product. It smells very chalky, reads a bit orange on me compared to my other bronzers, and has a formula and texture that just does not agree with me. I enjoy powders that are on the drier side, and NYC Sunny is just too moist feeling (for lack of a better term).

So, in terms of bronzing products, I now have three. And I solemnly swear that three is more than enough for me!

Some Destashes and a Panning

Hello hello hello!

Today I actually placed an order with Colourpop for three single shadows:

1. Making Moves- a bright coral-pink matte
2. Glass Bull- a sheer brown-blue duochrome
3. Team Captain- a matte olive green

These three colors are very unique, and honestly reflect how I feel about color, especially mattes. I especially think the color Making Moves (a bright coral pink) is something that is appearing in a lot of palettes lately. I myself have a similar color in the WnW Not a Basic Peach palette, but as I noted before, the WnW shadow takes a long time to build up.

Team Captain looks like a beautiful shade of Olive Green, which I have also been very interested in since the Subculture palette. I understand the release of the Subculture palette was a mess, but I can't deny ABH brought out colors that were a lot different than the current trends. Also, it's been my mission to dupe the Viseart Dark Matte palette in my own personalized way.

Glass Bull just looks so pretty, and I am interested in the concept of a sheerer type of shimmer. The Anti-Haul Blog noted that this is part of the "eye gloss'  effect trend, and I want to try it! Especially see how it works with mattes, though she noted she preferred using it as a one-shadow shade.

In anticipation of these three shadows,  I decided to declutter two shades from my large z-palette:

1.) Coastal Scents Victorian Pear.

I don't really understand this shade. It is a sheer shimmery-satin taupe that barely shows up on my skin, and has green iridescent glitters dispersed in the pan, and barely show up when applied to the face. I just have other shadows that do more interesting things, so this was a waste of space.

2.) ABH, Brownie

It took me trial and error to figure out that I really dislike the ABH Titanium formula. Every single shade with this formula has gotten hard pan (counting Brownie, I have three), and doesn't show up nicely on my eyes. The powder is very thick, too. Brownie is no exception, and even though I picked it up for a third of the retail price, it was a waste. Even if the formula was great, this is not something I'd be interested in wearing every day, color-wise.

Let's move on to panning updates.

I have panned the cream shade from the Carli Bybel Deluxe palette. Now, I got this in late December, so it's been less than two months. I am not particularly happy about that, but it does not come as a complete surprise.  The pans of eyeshadow are pretty small, and the formula is very soft. Not only that, the cream shadow is something I am using every day.

My ABH shadow in Amber, which I was panning, broke. The formula was very soft, and I guess a lot of it was not attached to the pan, so now I only have a sliver of eyeshadow left, which makes me quite sad. I really like this color, and the unique type of gold it is, but I am not going to repurchase. I have got enough eyeshadow already, especially gold, that I can wait.

I also have near dupes of it in the Carli Bybel Deluxe palette, so that gives me more incentive to use more from that palette, too.

Thanks for reading!

Ipsy February 2018 Bag (updated)

As established by now, this will be the page containing all my updates and thoughts regarding this month's Ipsy.

To be honest, I did not opt to get an ipsy bag last month...and I did not miss it. I thought I would, but it really made no bearing on my life. I was surprised.

I told myself that I would try this month, and see what happens. I did the coding hack a couple of days ago, but the image was so small it was almost impossible to list what I got. But, now I have the full list as well as approximate prices.

MELLOW COSMETICS
Mini Matte Liquid Lip Paint in Tehran (1.5 g @ $6.56 ) No longer sold by Mellow Cosmetics.

I am not looking forward to liquid lipstick. I've tried it, but it just did not work for me. This particular looks nice, on the plus size, which is a brown-taupe.

This is a good formula and color for a liquid lip. Unfortunately, I just can't get on board. I hate the way they look on me. 

Bang Beauty Blush, 3.5 g full-size (I think @ $20.00) 

Color is variable, but I liked all three, but would prefer the brown shimmery one. I am not familiar with this brand, but the retail price is quite steep. I wonder what the quality is like.

I ended up with the color Smoked Peach. While the color looks quite intense in the pan, this blush definitely needs to be built up- which is not necessarily a bad thing. It had a really nice golden sheen. While I definitely would not purchase this for that price, I will happily continue to use this.

Marsk (hate the name of this brand) loose eyeshadow in Foiled Again (1.2 g @ $22.50). So expensive! This shadow seems very cool-toned, and I tend to like warmer silvers. We'll see how this goes. I do have a lot of cooler matte shadows now that I have been using.

I just cannot believe this thing costs more than $10.00. What a rip-off. I tend to like warmer, lighter, silvers, and this is definitely more of a smoky sparkly silver. On my eye, it was rather chunky, and did not play nice with Pixie Epoxy, which is weird because up until now, PE has worked with everything in my collection. I am not going to use this. 

Luxie Dual-Ended Blending and Shading Brush ($12?) This brush looks great, aside from the fact it's double-side. I can't get enough of blending and shading brushes, but not all in one. Oh well. I will still happily use this. After I figure out how to store it.

I really really like this brush! It is super convenient. Today I used it for my purple look, and it was just a matter of flipping the brush over to use. I am very happy to have gotten this. 

MAD Skincare
Spot On Targeted Skin Brightening Serum ( .23 oz @ $19.00)    Reviews on this serum tell me it is not for all over face, but specific areas to brighten. I don't really have dullness issues, but we'll see.

I've been using this sparingly and have not really noticed anything yet. The bottle is tiny and I hope I did my math right. 

All in all, this is my most expensive bag yet, at $80.38. I wonder if I did the math right. We'll see, though, if these items earned their price tag. As always, this post will be updated continually with my thoughts.

Final thoughts: I don't want to quit ipsy just yet, so I adjusted my frequency to every other month. If I keep getting underwhelmed, I am just going to discontinue. 

Thanks for reading!

Lilac Monochrome LoTD

Today I wanted to do a matte eye that involved lots of expert blending, as well as a complementary pink highlighter.

Something I like to do with this blog is show how the look fared at the end of the day, to comment on the durability of the product. Though I've only been wearing this look for about three hours, I did go walking for about an hour.

The products I used are as follows:

Eyes:
Blueberry Swirl (from Dose of Colors Eyes Cream palette) (on the lid)
Inglot Matte Pink shade (in the crease)
ABH Soft Gold Shadow (in the inner corner)
Wet 'n Wild Eyeshadow Primer

Face:
Wet 'n Wild contour/highlight duo in Dulce de Leche (I only used the bronzing side)
Milani Holographic Beams highlighting palette shade Unicorn Dreams

Here are some pictures:

The pink highlighter was very difficult to photograph, even with flash. However, in regular daylight it is quite visible, and I was impressed with how long it remained on my face.

The bronzer, too, stuck around for quite a while, which I was pleased with. 

 Overall, I think this was a really pretty, elegant look that would be easy to replicate again. Next time,  I would be a little more generous with Blueberry Swirl on my eyelid, though, and make sure I put more product closer to the crease.

I think Unicorn Dreams was a very nice way to balance out the matte of the eyes, and it has become my favorite shade from the palette.

Thanks for reading!

Valentine's EoTD w/ Coloured Raine and Inglot

This is the look I wore on Thursday.

So, we've got Inglot matte pink in the crease. This is a cool-toned bright pink, that builds up very easily. 

On the lid, I used Your Majesty. It is a warm metallic gold. I wanted to create a contrast of warm and cool. 

Concentrating in the outer corner, I used Empress in the crease, as well as Royal Prerogative. Again, I wanted to add depth and warmth in those areas. 

In the inner corner, I used Crown. 

 Overall, I thought this was a pretty look, and I did get some compliments on it.

 (I just noticed, I was also trying out new concealer when I got home from work and it looks like I forgot to blend it out.....Oh well).

Why does the new Physician's Formula Foundation Smell the Same as the Wet 'n Wild One?

Let's first look at some pics of the swatches of the PF foundation. I got the color LC1, the lightest in the range:

It comes in a sturdy glass bottle, with 1 fl oz of product. It is dispensed with a doe-foot appliator. 

My main quibble is that the foundation's scent bears a strong resemblance to the Wet 'n Wild Photo Focus foundation, but not as intense. I decided to investigate by looking at the ingredients. 

PF Healthy Foundation ($13-$15.00)

Octinoxate 3% Inactive Ingredients: Water/Eau, Cyclopentasiloxane, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Isododecane, Butylene Glycol, Acrylates/Polytrimethylsiloxymethacrylate Copolymer, Propanediol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Magnesium Sulfate, Schinziophyton Rautanenii (Mongongo) Kernel Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylene Brassylate, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Silica, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Evodia Rutaecarpa (Wu-Zhu-Yu) Fruit Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Cellulose Gum, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aluminum Hydroxide, Retinyl Palmitate, Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, BHT, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Wet 'n Wild Photo Focus Foundation ($5.00-$6.00)

Isododecane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Water/Eau, Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol Crosspolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Silica, Sodium Chloride, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Lecithin, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Polysilicone-11, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Laureth-12, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, [+/- (May Contain/Peut Contenir): Titanium Dioxide/CI 77891, Mica, Iron Oxides/CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499].

Interesting! In terms of humectants, solvents, and other base ingredients, the two share a lot. It is important to note that both companies share the same parent company, so they have access to the same manufacturers. What is interesting to me is the price difference. Do the extra ingredients in the PF foundation warrant the greater price? It does seem that the additional ingredients in the PF foundation are for skin-care.

After using both, I prefer the PF formula one by and large. While it isn't a perfect color match, it is close, and it feels a lot better on my face than the Wet 'n Wild Foundation, which felt cakey and unpleasant. 

I found that the PF foundation wore really well throughout the day, and I did not feel oily at all. The product did not break up on my face. It was smooth sailing.

Urban Decay Backtalk Palette: TMO

Before I begin this rather rant-y post, I just want to preface it with a disclaimer. I am pretty opinionated and picky when it comes to makeup. It comes from a place of saving money as my first priority.

The makeup world was all a titter with news of Urban Decay's palette, the Backtalk Palette. It is a dual-sided palette, in the same way as their concealer and face powder palette. It looks like this:

Now, to say more about where I am coming from- I love purple. I am obsessed with purple blushes, I embarked on a hunt to find the best purple eyeshadow (another post somewhere on the blog- just search for it), purple is very important to me. However....this is not a purple palette I particularly want. Because...well, a couple of reasons.

1. This is the Laura Mercier palette

2. And the Naked 3 Palette:

3. And the Colourpop Give it to Me Straight Palette:

To name a few. 

This is not a new concept, nor are these new colors, but the way Urban Decay has managed to catch the eye of consumers is to do the exact opposite of what they did with the Naked 1 Palette- complete monochrome. 

Backtalk is the name of one of their lipsticks, which is a purple-pink. They constructed an entire palette around one color.

Monochrome is visually appealing, but think about what people became frustrated with when they were using the Naked Heat palette- the types of looks they were doing all came out similarly.

Furthermore, we know purple is a tricky color to pull off, and I am not confident that a lot of these are going to be very high quality. 

Would I be interested in these colors? Not all of them. And I could not see myself using a face palette and and eye palette like that together. I would much rather prefer singles. I really don't appreciate that UD is making you purchase all four face products as well as the eyeshadow together. It seems unwieldy and I like those products separate. Urban Decay is being rather rude, frankly. 

Even though I am curious to see swatches, it seems UD is doing a quiet release on this, sending it to smaller beauty gurus. They are also coming out with a summer palette soon. Which makes we wonder why they released it at all. 

Thanks for reading! 

Recent Makeup Fails (3) and Faves (2)

Lately I have prided myself on avoiding dud makeup products. A lot less impulse buying, more research, etc., has really prevented the need to destash.

However, I have encountered some duds lately, and I wanted to talk about them.

First, a dual-ended felt-tip eyeliner from Beaute Wise, which I bought from Amazon for $12. It is a K-beauty product, and for the first couple applications, it was okay. I picked it up today after not using it for a few weeks and the tip on both ends was hardly dispensing product! I then swatched it on my hand to be sure, and I had to run the tip over and over to build anything up, and still the liner was patchy and thin. Worse, it is very easy to remove. So completely not worth the money.

Next, we have one brush from a Real Techniques trio from Metals Collection. This was highly discounted, and I believe I got it for $8.00, but I'm not sure. While the eye brush is fine, and the face powder brush is my favorite, the gold concealer brush is a total dud for me. Concealer brushes are supposed to work with small spaces and curves on your face, and the jagged edges of the bristles on this brush are nearly painful. The design of the brush is elegant and eye-catching, but the brush head on the concealer one (102) was a mis-step.

Finally, one of my major makeup regrets is the Colourpop Supernova Shadow in Firecracker. It cost $7.00. It is not worth it because it does not work. It does not build up, it applies patchy and powdery, and I really hate it. I don't know why I bought this. I really should have read the reviews.

Let's move onto the positives.

I have been using Coty Airspun in Translucent Extra Coverage and am surprised that there's an actual powder I can use with foundation that I actually enjoy. I don't mind the smell, and I find that my face is kept pretty dry throughout the day. Total win.

The next product I am happy to have is the Sonia Kashuk eye makeup remover. I was in need of something like this after I ran out of my Simple one, which cost $8.00. Because Sonia Kashuk is leaving Target, all of her products were discounted, so I snagged her makeup remover for $4.00. It's got a lot more product than the Simple one, and works better, too.

Thanks for reading!

Another Purple Zodiac Palette EoTD

For such a large palette, I am really trying to get a handle on the BH Cosmetics Zodiac Palette. Without giving my full review, I will say that I really like it.

I have been trying to do more colorful looks lately, and I've been really enjoying the purple mattes. 

This is a look I came up with:

I used the shimmer shade Taurus on the lid, with the two light purples in the crease, and the dark cool purple matte on the outer v.

This look is a little intense and not something I would wear to work. 

However, the mattes are really blendable, and I think this palette makes it very easy to incorporate color. 

EoTD: Peachy and Golden w/ Fyrinnae!

Hey hello hi.

Today is a look using the very popular shade "Rapunzel Had Extensions" from Fyrinnae Cosmetics. Fyrinnae is an indie brand that I have purchased from in the past, and thoroughly enjoy.

I took pictures of the look after 10+ hours of wear, so my mascara at this point was breaking down a bit.

After applying Wet 'n Wild eyeshadow primer, I set my crease with Coloured Raine Angel Face. Then I blended in Pumpkin Pie from Coastal Scents.

After applying Pixie Epoxy (also Fyrinnae) to my lid, I packed on Rapunzel Had Extensions.

Overall, I really love this shadow. I wish I didn't apply my liner so sloppily, but I think I was just tired. This is a really simple but pretty look that I would wear again, perhaps even with a darker orange matte to make it more dramatic.

Out-of-focus picture so you can see the shimmer!

Weekend Look of the Day and Other Stuff, too!

Hello!

Today I thought I would share a look I recently did with the BH Cosmetics Zodiac Palette. I have a review on that coming soon, but I want to make good use of the palette before giving my verdict.

These are the colors I decided to work with:

Pink and purple in the crease. Shimmer on the lid. The two burgundy shades in the outer corner.

Overall, I have been very impressed so far with the quality of the palette. But I do have a more in-depth review in the works. 

Also, in addition to the palette, I also have other products of note to talk about:

We have in addition to the Zodiac Palette, the Covergirl BB Cream, as well as the Sonia Kashuk eye makeup remover. I needed a new eye makeup remover after using up all of my Simple one, and the SK was half the price (due to the brand exodus from Target). Overall, I am really impressed by the SK remover, and think it actually is more effective than the Simple one. 

In terms of the BB cream, I will not give my full thoughts yet because I just started using it today. 

So, that's it, really! I am not going to talk yet about recent releases because I really don't care. Lol. I mean, I have been keeping track, because I usually do, but I have reached peak brand apathy.