Cool-Toned EoTD

I used a total of three eyeshadow palettes for this look, and I have no regrets.

Let's take a look at a picture of my eye, after a long day of work:

So, here is what I used:
-BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil Palette (purple in crease)
-Modern Renaissance Warm Taupe in crease and lid. I've missed this color so much!
-Queen of Hearts palette by Coloured Raine in Royal Highness on Lid.

Overall, I quite liked this look, and definitely want to go a little warmer tomorrow, but still use Warm Taupe. I forgot how much I liked it!

My Sort of Makeup Wishlist for Summer 2018

This post is inspired by the Innisfree Birthstone collection. I was so tempted because I love gemstones, and I love the No Sebum powder. However, my birthstone is June, and this is what I would have been getting:

So while everyone gets a cool looking gem graphic, June Pearl looks rather...bland. And I was considering buying another month, but that felt silly. It shouldn't feel silly, because it is just a superficial design, but there you go.

If I really wanted to nitpick, they could have picked Alexandrite for June. I'm not sure if it is as universally recognized as a birthstone compared to Pearl, but it is a green-red shifting stone that would look comparable to the other months and not such a dud.

Next, we have the Gemini Palette from Melt Cosmetics. Now, I have always been a little resentful of Melt Cosmetics, because they seem like a fun brand, but a tad too expensive. They came out with the Gemini Palette, and....I like it...a lot.

It is definitely different from everything I have so far, and everything that I have seen in a while. I like the warm greens, and I would need to swatches first to make sure the shimmers are unique. if that's the case, I could definitely see myself getting this as a birthday present. To me.

The next item is not technically on my wishlist, but rather on here due to sheer confusion:

So this is a Becca palette, cosplaying as an Hourglass palette. Here Becca has ditched its singular round pan design in favor of a beveled, baked looking powders, in the form of a face palette. Limited Edition Becca Face (not eye) palettes are usually good, but I just don't think it looks unique. The swirled blush kind of looks interesting, but its one of the smaller sized products.

Lastly, the next item is a palette that I just think is pretty.

This is the Summer Vibes palette from Give Me Glow Cosmetics. The problem with this palette is that I have been basically curating a palette like this for the past year and a half. Aside from the blues, I pretty much have these colors. I also think there's a tad too many beige shimmers in there. I know I personally don't need this, but if the price and quality is right I could see how this would be a fun palette for many.

So, that's it for now!

Oh, I forgot to mention. I bought this contraption on Amazon last night because I am weak of spirit:



I get it on Saturday. We shall see....

Thanks for reading!

TMO: The Lemonade Palette by Christen Dominique Cosmetics

Hello everyone! Today I thought I'd bring you a TMO of the Lemonade Palette by Christen Dominique Cosmetics, as the image of the interior of the palette was released today.

For reference, this was the last release of CDC, the Latte Palette:

While the quality of the shadows were reputed to be decent, the color story was a bit bland and repetitive. Many people were looking forward to the Lemonade Palette, with the assumption that it would be summery, bright, and more varied in terms of color. 

This is the palette:

I can see about three colors that repeat: the light peachy cream shade, the deep burgundy shade, and the orange brown. 

While I think this palette is a better than, say, the Tarte Aspyn Ovard palette, the most immediate criticism I can draw is the fact that this is called the Lemonade Palette, but there are no actual Lemonade shades. This might as well be called the Summer Sweets palette, because it's surprisingly, in terms of shimmer shades, a bit washed out. 

I don't doubt that people could make pretty looks with this. But in terms of what is unique about it- I am not really sure. These palettes are $42, so it is important to consider what a person is actually willing to pay that money for. 

While I like the fact that this palette seems to have a balance of warm and cool, I think marketing it as a Lemonade Palette is a little confusing. I think the palette offers some easy ways to incorporate color into a look, but I think even more could have been offered- Strawberry, Peach, Lemon Soda, and Pink Lemonade seem to be very frosty, even the green one, so I wonder exactly how vivid these colors will be, and how distinct, on different skin tones. 

After owning the Eyes Cream palette from Dose of Colors, as well as three BH Cosmetics palettes, I know I personally have no need for this in my collection. 

Thanks for reading! 

BH Cosmetics Liquid Foundation Naturally Flawless Review

So a couple of days ago, I bought the BH Cosmetics Naturally Flawless Liquid Foundation. I am running out of Maybelline Fit Me, and wanted to try something new.

I liked the fact that it came in a pump bottle and was (and still is) on sale for $6.00.

The color I chose was 201- ivory.

Right off the bat, I noticed a couple of things. This foundation is completely fragrance free. It has an odd consistency that I have not noticed with other foundations before- like sticky. You know how on baking shows, whipped cream is ready when it becomes glossy and you can make peaks with the whisk or beater? This also makes peaks, and is ever so slightly stiff when blending out.

I myself use a stippling brush- but for it to work I cannot drag it across my face, I have to actually take the time to stipple. It works really nicely with a beauty sponge as well.

Coverage-wise, I would say it is solidly medium. A first layer did not cover completely a bit of redness I have on my cheeks- I needed a second layer for those. However, the finish was luminous and flattering, and it wore well on my face.

I like the color-match, and the stickiness does dry down. I am impressed with the wear-time. Being combination dry-oily, after the end of the day I did not perceive much of a difference in terms of wear time and oiliness with that of my other foundations.

It definitely competes with Maybelline Matte and Fit Me, and I will happily keep using this.

Onto the pics:

One pump. See what I mean about the peak?

Heavy Swatch

Just after blending the swatch out. Notice the glossy finish that will eventually set. 

Today's EoTD w/ Take Me Back to Brazil

Well, I got it. After months of being sold out, I bought with a brush set: the BH Cosmetics Take Me Back to Brazil palette.

There is a lot to like about this palette. It feels sturdy, with a really gorgeous design. On the inside, the 35 pans are on the smaller side, and are comprised the whole spectrum of bright colors. There is also a lot not to like, which I will talk about in my official review of the palette.

But for now, let me show you the eye look that I made with it and another palette:

So, for this look, I set Mac Painterly Paint Pot with Colourpop's Hear Me Out. However, I only placed the matte cream shade on the brow bone and crease.

With a large BH fluffy crease brush, I swept a yellow matte into the crease. The yellow matte was a mix of a couple from this palette.

I then took and orange matte with a smaller crease brush and blended that in.

With the same brush, I also added some pink tones in there.

 I then took the shade Crown from the Queen of Hearts palette from Coloured Raine, and applied that to the lid.

 Eyeliner was my usual, Physician's Formula.

Mascara was Lash Princess by Essence (I go back and forth on this one- currently I like it) and Pixi Lower Lash Mascara, with some Lash Princess on top of that 

We'll see how it wears throughout the day. I'm most interested to see if the colors will just ended up mixing together, especially because I am not technically wearing primer. As of now, I think this is a rather pretty look.

Thanks for reading!

Colourpop Singles and Reviews

Hi all! My Colourpop single collection is relatively small, but (somewhat) carefully curated and well-research. Besides Coastal Scents, CP is the brand that I have the most singles from. I thought it might be useful to share with you the shades I have, as well as what I think about them! (All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them)

This shade is Team Captain, a dark matte olive green. It goes on a bit patchy, but is a mostly smooth powder that I use on the outer corner of my eye. I am still getting the hang of greens, so I have not used it as much as I could. Still, I do think the formula is difficult to work with, and I do wonder if there are better olive greens on the market.

The cream shade is called Hear Me Out. I bought this because I was missing Tempera from the Modern Renaissance palette terribly. I didn't think I would, but here we are. It doesn't have the same satin finish as Tempera, but there is something so soft about this shadow that there is an almost glossy finish to it. A lovely formula and a lovely shadow.

The coral is called Lay Low, and it has a very similar formula to Hear Me Out- also an excellent shadow and I highly recommend it.

Last is Making Moves. Like Team Captain, the formula is a little drier and a bit harder to blend out- but it plays very nicely with Lay Low. A very pigmented shadow as well.

The left-most shade here is Glass Bull. This shade is          I C O N I C for a reason. The picture doesn't capture it. It is a teal shimmer in a mauve base, that gives the eye a glossy look when used by itself. This one is a must have for a simple, almost editorial eye.

Middle shade is 20-Something. A stunning metallic, but highly flaky and needs glitter glue. I would recommend, if you have the materials to make sure this stays on the eye. I prefer it as a one-shadow look, because for me it travels over the crease and brow.

Last one is Chauffeur. It appears to be an orange shimmer, but it has a gold shift, so it looks glowing. A smooth formula, and quite pigmented. Another one I highly recommend.


So there you have it! I do intend on buying more Colourpop shadows eventually, but I really do love the colors I have now!

Thanks for reading.

Tarte's Aspyn Ovard Palette is a Joke, Right?

I mean...just look at it:

I think if I was to make a judgement call, it would not be about the consumer. It's the company in this case. The choice of collaborator- Aspyn Ovard chose to make a warm beige palette that works for her. Unfortunately, this is so very similar to all the other palettes Tarte offers. 

Besides pretty packaging, everything is rather standard fare here. Personally, I am not a fan of highlighters and blush in palettes, because if I am going to drop money, I am not doing so for those types of products. I have them already, probably in those shades. 

Tarte is literally doing nothing new. After much scrutiny a couple of months ago for racial insensitivity and exclusivity, this was Tarte's opportunity to do something different. Just different.

And this is not it. 

How do I know? Well, these are the palettes on their site, currently for sale:

They all seem to blend together just a little bit.

Still not going to buy from Tarte.

Challenge: Using a Color I Hate

So I hate blue eyeshadow. I always have. My skin is pretty cool-toned, but my wheelhouse has always been warm-toned shadows. They look pretty good on me.

Why, then, would I buy Lakeshore from Coastal Scents? It is popular shade for Coastal Scents, because it is pigmented and a duochrome- a murky blue with gold reflect. So I bought it, knowing full well I am not drawn to blue.

Until today.

I thought- there has to be a cheat. There has to be a way I can make blue eyeshadow work.

Let me take you through my process. And we will see if I was successful.

 I first used two shades from the Wet 'n Wild Not a Basic Peach palette. I put the transition shade- a slightly yellowed cream- all over the brow and crease. I then took the white satin and generously applied it all over the inner corner- even on the browbone- area. I actually thought this look was quite cool and would be perfect for a no-makeup look. But I kept going.

With Tangelo Tint, from Coastal Scents, I blended this out with a large fluffy blush in the crease. This looks very intense in the pan, but is actually quite sheer when applied. 

Another crease color! This is Crisp- an orange brown matte from Tarte. This was blended into the crease, along with...

Realgar from ABH, because it was not warm enough!!!

Lakeshore was applied in the inner third of my lid, and blended out with the green foil from BH Cosmetics. 

This is the final look:

Do I love it? Picture-wise, it's kind of cool. It looks like a sunset. In person though, in regular light, I don't feel this look is all that exciting or flattering. I wish I just made the whole thing matte.

So. I tired to be clever, and make a look that would balance out the blue with a whole lot of warmth. But I don't really like the final product. I still don't think blue is for me. Oh well.

(maybe as one color all over the lid???)

Wet 'n Wild Megalo Highlighting Powder White Raven: Review and Swatches

The Goth-o-graphic collection from Wet 'n Wild came out a few months ago, but the highlighters were being sold (in a very sneaky way, full price but in the clearance section) just now. I decided to buy White Raven, because the other shade, Purple Ashes, seemed very sparkly and gray.

The powder cost $4.98, and contains the standard 5.4 g of product. Currently, it is still on sale on the Wet 'n Wild website.

Onto the pics!

What is interesting to note that this applies better on the face with my fingers than a brush. With a brush, very subtle and teeny bits of sparkle are visible, but you get a more intense, pigmented look by dabbing this on with a finger. Looking at the above picture, you can see how the powder looks a bit chunky, which is why smoothing over with a finger rather than a brush creates a better look, for me. 

My lighting is not the best here, but the color itself is a blue-toned purple, with an almost pink shift. It's very hard to describe and capture on the camera, but it does capture light in a unique way on the face.

My skin is very pink, despite me wearing foundation. The blue/purple toned shift to the sheen on my face looks subtle, but it a lot more apparent in person, and in movement.

All in all, I really like powders like these because they make a look special, but they don't ruin it or dominate the face. I intend to keep using this, and I think it does have a place in my collection.

Thanks for reading!

Shopping My Stash

Good ev-uh-ning. Today I thought I would simply plot out the different things I will be trying this week, in an effort for me to use up more of my collection.

I base a lot of my makeup look on the time restrictions I have, as well as what I will be wearing that day.

Tomorrow the weather is nice and moderate, so I am wearing a linen-striped button up blouse with my usual black work pants, and black sandals, with silver earrings. This is a very cool-toned outfit, so I usually like to contrast that with warm-toned makeup.

After watching some videos online, I think I want to pay more attention to my Modern Renaissance palette. I especially want to use more of Golden Ochre, like I saw Kat (aka KitschSnitch). I kind of just want a very minimal, brown smoky eye.

Face wise, I am torn. I love using The Sweetest Bling highlighter, but that one is so cool-toned that I find it clashes with some of the things I wear. Also, one of my other makeup "rules" is that I can go with a more sparkly highlighter if my eyes are matte. Which is what I am attempting tomorrow. I know I want a straight up golden highlighter. I could do my fave- Colourpop Here Kitty Kitty, but I know I have been trying to get more use out of my Mary Loumanizer. Ugh. In my mind, the Mary Lou is just a drier formula. Okay, I will give it a go. We'll see if I can fall back in love with it.

Blush will be my usual matte colors.

Bronzer- not sure yet. I could give the Butter Palette use since I just got it. It depends what I am in the mood for. I have been enjoying contour sticks recently, especially from Milani and Jordana.

Lips- I am never deliberate with lip color. I can't find my Stila Balm in Grayson, which has been distressing to me. I know I misplaced it somewhere. Other than that, I could continue to use Clinique Black Honey, to keep going with my classic makeup motif.

Alright we are all set! Hopefully I will have enough time to post the look tomorrow with reviews, if it turns out decent.

Thanks for reading!

My Weekend in Makeup

Honestly, I didn't wear much makeup this weekend. I'll post my overall thoughts in snippets below:

• My upper lip was very dry, and I am not sure why. And in isolated spots, almost like burns. So  I used the elf lip exfoliator and the Vaseline lip balm and drank a lot of water this weekend- it all seems okay now.
• I also tested out the Butter Bronzer palette. I have to say, they need to make Full Moon a permanent color. Galactic, though, is trash. Straight-up glitter. And I stand by my review- that is not the same Butter Bronzer. I don't think people really got the value they thought they were going to get out of this.
• I tried to use more of Colourpop's Lay Low, as Temptalia gave it an A rating. I like it alright, especially with gold and orange. I used it with the Queen of Hearts palette and while I was using that palette I was reminded of how well the mattes blended. Before when I watched makeup videos, and people would say how well a shadow blended I really could not see what they meant- but now I can.
• I bought I full size of the Maybelline Colossal Volume (yellow) mascara, because I liked the sample so much. As of now, I like the mascara, but I think that sample size mascaras tend to perform better. 
• I didn't wear any blush this weekend.
• And that's it! 

Physician's Formula Butter Palette: Review and Swatches

Hello!!

I have a lot of thoughts about the new Butter Palette from Physician's Formula. What prompted me initially was the idea of having high quality face products in my collection that also came with a fragrance, all for less than the price of one of these full size individual products. At Walmart one can purchase this for $12, but because my Walmart always seems behind with these releases, I bought it off the PF website for $14.50. Not in love with that price difference, but whatever. I was excited.

So how did I fare with this palette?

1.) Fragrance: I enjoy the coconut smell of this- it's not as creamy and sweet as my Lavanilla Vanilla Coconut Rollerball. But scent wise I think it is very similar to the scent of the Sol De Janiero Bum Bu cream product, just not as intense.  I like it.

2.) The palette itself:

• Bronzer (light/medium): To be honest, this does not smell the same as my previous full size of the Butter Bronzer. Not only that, the powder itself seems a lot more stiff and I am not getting a whole lot of color pay off with this.
• Natural Glow Blush. This is basically a highlighter-blush. It's pigmented enough, and can be used for a more subtle, easy glow.
• Full Moon. This one is the winner for me, and makes everything worth it. I have never tried their butter highlighter formula before, but I was shocked when I touched this. It's creamy, but does not crumble when I press my finger lightly on top. This is a really elegant golden sheen. I thought the highlighter from BH Cosmetic's Zodiac Palette would be a color dupe, but while they are similar they are not the same. (I like the Butter Palette one better)
• Galactic: As pretty as this one is, it is pure glitter on your face. It is a striking look, and can be pretty, but I want to use this on my eye lids as a glossy look and see what happens. I don't know how much use I'd get with it on my face. 

Can you depot?

Yes, with a depotting spatula. I already depotted the blush quite easily, but I am keeping it with the palette. 

So, let's do pros and cons, excluding the fair price of it.

Pros:

1-Limited edition highlighter shade in Full Moon is gorgeous. It glides on the skin and stays there, and does not emphasize texture. 

2- Fragrance is nice and is sure to appeal to many different preferences. 

3- If you are careful, you can depot. 

Cons:

1- This is not the same Butter Bronzer. If you buy this hoping to try the formulation of the BB, prepared to be disappointed. 

2-The blush is not really a blush, but a third highlighter shade

3- packaging is bulky

4- Galactic is highly shimmery, and I feel I could only use it on special occasions

5-packaging of cream products (open palette, no lid) might speed up drying them out.

Overall, I think this was a fun release, and though I don't agree with everything PF decided to do with it, I will happily use it this summer. 

On to the pics:

BH Zodiac Highlight (l), PF Full Moon (r)

Galactic (far right)

Small Eyeshadow Single Declutter

Well, after careful consideration, the time has come to be 100% honest with my collection and let go of the things that I no longer need.

1.) My sample of Urban Decay lounge. Let's talk about this pigment, shall we? I have a feeling it's one of the most commercially easy duochrome highlighters to produce, which is why you have been seeing it everywhere, including the drugstore. The thing is,though, even though technically it's a blue-brown  pigment, the brown is so very red that my eyes look horrible with this. I have been holding on to this for two years already. I need to give it a rest.

2.) Three (more) depotted shadows from Kat Von D. This is when I discovered that my local shops were selling discounted high end. I lost my mind, and so made rather ill-informed purchases. So now I am letting these mattes go. I don't need to have Kat Von D shadows in my collection in order to feel good about it. And to be honest, I really don't like her formula. Sorry about it.

3.) Speaking of formulas, it took me a long time to accept the fact that I simply dislike ABH titanium formula. How do I know this? Because I am decluttering Rosette and Emerald. I have tried very hard to like both of them, especially because Tempalia rated them so high, but they are just not working for me. The formula reminds me of old Makeup Forever shadows- kind of play-doh like, and I found I got hard pan on them pretty quickly. So, I am letting go of these two albatrosses.

These are the decluttered shadows:

And this is my z-palette now:

The Waning of the Anti-Influencer and Anti-Consumerist Rhetoric on YT

So yeah. It's thing. But let me press on.

I love examining trends on the internet, especially when, and please pardon the use of an old term, these trends are relevant to my interests. Such as makeup, and youtubers who talk about makeup.

The intense marketing of cosmetics was countered about 2 years ago with the increased prevalence of anti-hauls, declutters, and project panning. This is not to say these types of videos did not exist before then, but it is safe to say these types of videos entered into our collective consciousness around that point. Approximately.

Anti-hauls, especially, took off. Everyone, including the big-name, million-subscriber  influencers were doing them. And some did them well, and some did them not so well.

But what does it mean to anti-haul well? It seems as though people wanted an analysis of a product, a break-down of a product's significance in the cultural and economic milieu.

But now I am seeing a shift.

A lot more bloggers are responding negatively to oversimplified and rather shallow applications of anti-consumerist rhetoric. There is now a greater emphasis on the phrase "personal responsibility."

Where do I stand on this? On one hand, I see anti-hauls and anti-consumerist youtube videos as a way to attain or reclaim personal responsibility. If they are hyperbolic, that's fine. They are premised on the fact that at the end of the day, the card/money/paypal button is at my fingertips, and based upon my thinking I decide if I want to spend or not.

However, I think less mature and worldly perspectives have misunderstood this, and blamed influencers for pushing them to buy a product, or contributing to obsessive behaviors regarding consumption and spending. Are they completely incorrect? No, if they mean that influencers all have a role, nay, a job, to do- and that means push products. What a person decides to do with that information is up to them. But being informed is important.

Is there such thing as purely ethical spending? Purely ethical living? A situation where the clothes you buy, the food you eat, the materials and resources you consume are entirely divorced from exploitation, or violence?

The hard truth is no.  Perhaps things are getting better, but I do think there is a bit of cognitive dissonance at play if one thinks that at this point in time there is an accessible way to live like that.

That's my little philosophical u-turn. Back to the essay.

"Personal responsibility" is a lovely term, isn't it? It smacks of "free will." And in all cases of liability and agency, it comes down to what constitutes free will, doesn't it?

The thing is, I love makeup. This is going to sound super trite, but I do express myself with it. I feel better about myself and more confident when I wear it. That is due to how aware I am of how others perceive me. It is what it is. I might as well have some fun with it.

The counter to the wave an anti-consumerism seems like good direction to me because it's a learning process. And a move toward nuance. A move against sweeping generalizations and an examination on an individual's place within a global network. As a consumer, mind you.

Ultimately, and I can't believe I am concluding like this, I am ambivalent. I am not bothered or offended by someone being upset about a beauty influencer. Nor am I upset or offended by an influencer selling product. As long as the influencer is honest and discloses clearly this information. If it's a business, which is it, transparency is nice. As for the consumer, you can implore the heavens to smite Jaclyn Hill about limited edition palettes and PR....but....

A long time ago, I used to watch Channel Awesome. But then ultimately I stopped because I was creeped out by the fans, and the dynamic that was going on. Because those content creators were perceived to be more accessible than a celebrity, the fans acted like they owned them. And the same thing happens in Beauty Youtube Land, even with the middle of the road and smaller influencers and bloggers. It's an exchange. So even if bloggers at all levels claim they are anti-consumerist or minimalist or somewhere in between, it does not matter if one is more genuine than the other. They all want views, they all want engagement, they all want promotion, etc. etc. It is not bad. It just is. But they are overreaching a bit in their capacity to reflect the values of an actual consumer, because they are not.

A far more scary thing is going on, I think, as consumers, hobbyists, etc., reflect the values of influencers. And as much as the person on your screen is telling you it is or isn't the fault of the influencer, the company, or the brand, their stance is ultimately colored by the role they have assumed.