Miscellaneous Bite Beauty Swatches and Reviews

Hello! I have found myself with suddenly a bunch of Bite Beauty samples and products that I thought I would share.

First, I have three Bite Beauty Multistick samples. The Multistick can be used on the eyes, cheeks, and lips. A full size of the product is $24.

In order of the swatches, the three colors I have are:

Papaya, a bright coral, Biscotti, a mauve, and Cashew, a rose brown.

 One misconception I had about this product is that I essentially thought it was the same as putting lipstick on your face. Maybe that's not too different, but the formulation of the multistick is different than their lip products. It is drier, but not matte, and easily blendable with a brush. It does not have a sticky or oily finish, and does not drag on the skin when using a brush. In fact, I tried blending with my finger as well, but the product behaved better with brushes- for the eyes and face.

The two products included in the Sephora June birthday gift are Chai, a lipstick, and a brighter red-brown and Glace, a matte lip crayon, a brown-pink that reads duskier on me. Both are long wearing and do leave behind a pleasant stain.

Glace on top
Chai on bottom

Glace on top
Chai on bottom

Final thoughts:

There is no doubt in my mind about the quality of Bite Beauty. The products are hydrating and pigmented. However, what ultimately deters me from buying from this brand is that the colors Bite Beauty offers appear to me very tonally similar, so I am not noticing a lot of variety in the color concept (is that even a phrase? sounds pretentious to me) that Bite presents.

I am not hankering to buy any Bite products soon, but I will happily use up the products I do have now.

Thanks for reading!

EoTD: Rose Gold w/ Stila's Glitter and Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in "Kitten"

So a long time ago I put Stila's "Diamond Dust" in a disappointing products post. And I still stand by that- it clung to texture, felt terrible on, and I just could not believe that was what the hype was about.

And then, as a result of my Sephora haul, and I got a tonnnnn of free samples- including a couple of uses of the Glitter and Glow in the shades "Kitten" and one that is slightly darker than Kitten.

Feeling brave, I decided to go with Kitten and layer it on top of Mac's Painterly Paint Pot...and I really like the look so far. I was stuck by how different it was to Diamond Dust- it was smooth, did not irritate my skin, and did not apply patchily. 

Of course, how it wears throughout the day will be another story. It is pretty warm and humid out, so I will be looking for creasing, etc., and I will update this post with my final thoughts. 

But other than that, I really like my look today. 

I am wearing the Fenty foundation mixed with Physician's Formula Healthy Foundation, and with Mary Loumanizer as a highlighter, which I have not worn in forever. It is one of those products I am trying to pan this summer. My blush is my usual mix to make a rose-brown tint, and I am wearing my Milani contour stick. Both powder and cream formulas are working very nicely on top of the foundation. 

I am also wearing one of the items from the Bite Beauty June Sephora birthday set- the lipstick in Chai. 

One thing I will say before I show the pictures is that compared to the eyeshadow powder version of Kitten, the liquid one is darker because its liquid base is rose brown. I like this quite a bit because it gives a bit more depth and complexity on the eye. I did pack the shadow Kitten on the center of the lid just for a bit more sheen and to see what would happen. 

Here are the results:

Also, before I wrap this up, I should say I got samples of a variety of products that I could feature on my blog, and decide whether or not I would purchase full size. These include:

-Tarte Blush in Exposed (though I already know I would not give Tarte a single penny)

-A couple of samples of Bite Beauty multisticks (maybe for a monochromatic look)

-A couple of samples of the Sephora story lipsticks

-Some Buxom liquid lipsticks

-Clinique Foundation

Let me know what you think of that idea! Thanks for reading. 

Summer/Birthday Haul and Anti-Haul + Some Reviews and Sephora Ramblings

Hello hello hello!

Today I have a bit of a long form haul post. It was my birthday a couple of days ago and I did pick up a couple of things beauty and skin care related. Part of this post is to keep all these products straight in my mind, and part of it is just to talk about my thoughts.

Before I get into it I should say that I did not buy any eyeshadow. It's really surprising for me because I love eyeshadow most of all, but I am finding myself looking for really unique duochrome and affordable pressed options and there are none. Touch of Glam Beauty is a potential place to look at, but nothing really jumped out at me. The shipping for Clionadh Cosmetics is way too much, as they are a Canada-based brand, and I really don't like the set-up of Devinah's website. I feel like I am not getting any idea of what the colors will actually look like on the skin. So overall I am just giving eyeshadow a pause and enjoying what I do have in my collection.

Moving on, I did go out to Sephora and swatch a couple of things because I needed to! So while this post will be ruminations on what I did buy, let's start with the things I did not buy:

1.) Fenty:

• Glitter Puff: I knew reviews on this were mixed but...I just had to touch it. It was super soft, and super, super glittery. The glitter particles were almost silvery, and were finely milled. 
• Gloss Bomb: I have been sorely tempted to buy this one. It is always in my Sephora loves list or cart. But after swatching it and smelling it on my hand....I just wasn't blown away. I was not about to actually try it on my lips, but from swatching it alone I was not impressed. The scent had a lemon tang to it, and I just could not justify purchasing it when I currently have three lipglosses that I need to use more of. 
• Duo Mimosa Sunrise: You can tell how hyped people are for a product and how interested in it they are going by how they were swatched in the stores. For example, this duo was swatched to death at my local Sephora. The metallic magenta side is gorgeous, and the orange-gold side is also very pretty, but after swatching it, I realized I already have the orange side. While a lot of people surmised that the new Wet 'n Wild Humming Bird collection would be similar to this release- specifically the orange and magenta colors, a closer "dupe" could be the Colourpop eyeshadow Chauffeur, which I also have. Both are bright oranges with a strong gold reflect. That being said, there was no need for me to buy this duo.

2.) Pat McGrath Bronze Ambitions Palette. I knew I was not going to pick it up because it is palette with brown eyeshadows in it for $55. Still, I wanted to get a sense of the formula of the shimmer shades, and see what exactly is all the fuss is about. And well.....I swatched the coppery shimmer shade and was blown away. One small swatch and it was vibrant, high shine, and did not move around on my skin. It lasted even when I tried to rub it off. That is what a person is paying for. As I use up more eyeshadows, I probably will consider buying one of her smaller palettes in the future based on the quality of the shadows, but only if the palette has enough shade variation and interesting colors. I want her to do more duochromes, pretty please.

3.) Huda Electric Obsessions: I swatched one magenta matte shade and that did not budge. I am not sure how easy it would be to blend out but it was definitely intimidating. Incredibly rich in pigment and vibrant color, though.

4.) Natasha Denonana Tropics Palette: I did not actually swatch this because after opening the palette, it just looked..gross. Hard pan everywhere, and the shimmers actually just looked like flaky glitters/mica tightly pressed. I would never pay for this.

And finally, a brand I did not get to swatch even though they are sold in Sephora: Viseart. Are they online only? I would have loved to get a look in person at those.

Okay, let's get into what I actually bought:

1.) Fenty Pro'Filtr Matte Foundation. I bought this because in the summer my face tends to get greasy and I wanted a more matte option.  I should have gotten a shade darker, though. While I love the lightweight formula and lack of fragrance or any smell, I do need to mix it with my Physician's Formula Healthy Foundation to get a perfect color, which I am not mad at, because I do like that foundation too. I think this foundation will be better for me in the winter, by itself.

2.) Bite Beauty Gift for June. I am counting this in my haul because these are things I am going to use. It was a nice little kit- one lipstick in Chai, which is this really bright red-brown, a matte crayon in Glace, and a little sample of the agave lip balm and sugar scrub.

3.) Saturday Skin No Bad Days Set. This is coming in the mail today and I am super excited. It was a pretty pricey set but I liked the packaging and ingredients and variety. So we'll see.

4.) First Aid Beauty Set. A long time ago, I got a small lotion sample from Ipsy, and have been obsessed with this brand ever since. I used up their Eye Gel completely, and liked it a lot. So as a set I got the two jars of their Ultra Repair Cream, in regular and Vanilla  Citron. These also come in today.

And at Lush:

1.) Ultrabland Face Cleanser. Everything I hoped it would be. Love it!

2.) a sample of Cosmetic Catastrophe. I have not used it yet, but currently it is in the skin care drawer of my fridge. The salesperson at Lush said to use this only two times a week, so I want to be judicious about when I decide to use this.

and a random Target purchase:

1.) Cerave Eye Repair Cream. So, I don't have dark circles so I can't comment on the veracity of that claim. However, this is a great cream that absorbs quickly, is not greasy, and improves the look of my skin around my eyes, especially fine lines. I really do think this is a great product for my specific purposes.

...So that's my haul! A lot more skin care this year. Like tons more. I hope this post was helpful, and you can definitely expect more reviews on the products included here!

Thanks for reading.

Eyes of the Day: Pinks, Reds, and Oranges

Today I have two different but related eye looks to share with you. I used the following products to achieve them:

1.) Too Faced (TF) Peanut Butter and Jelly Palette
2.) Coloured Raine (CR) Queen of Hearts Palette
3.) Colourpop (CP) Lay Low
4.) Vanessa's Vanity (VV) 6 pm

From left to right, we have 6 pm by VV, CR Crowb, CR Noblewoman, CP Lay Low, TF Extra Creamy, and TF Nuts About U

The first look was done by setting my primer with Extra Creamy, and Blending Lay Low in the crease. I then took Nuts About U in the crease and outer corner, really blending. On the inner corner of my eye I used Crown, and then mixed that with Noblewoman to create a more muted effect. 

Eyeliner was Physician's Formula, and mascara was the new Covergirl Flourish mascara in brown.

And here is the second look, which was a lot harder to capture a decent photo of:

So everything is pretty much the same as the first one, except the only shimmer is VV's 6 pm, a duochrome sparkler, that I used on top of Pixie Epoxy by Fyrinnae. I did not use eyeliner this time, but used the same mascara. 

 This is a really weird and blurry photo that best captures the sparkle.

In sum, I really liked these colors and will keep on using them. I think they bring out the green tones in my eyes. 

Thanks for reading!

Physician's Formula Anniversary Eye Palette: Classic Nudes (Review and Swatches)

This was a kind of random purchase that I did mention a while ago on this blog, when PF was rolling out its 80th anniversary collection.

Amazon had the palettes for a dollar off, so I paid $6.50 for this. I had never tried the PF matte formula, and I heard the shimmers in the two anniversary quads were special, so I thought to give this a try.

Before I get into my verdict, let us look at some pictures:

If I had to make a prediction, the sudden influx of colorful palettes are eventually going to make people nostalgic for some neutral love. And neutral love is exactly what this palette offers.

The palette is housed in a metal and plastic tin, with a cover that can be folded all the way back, which is great. I normally don't really care about how sturdy the palette is for travel, but the design of this palette, and the type of palette it is, really make it excellent for being on the go. I have taken this to work with me a couple of times just in case I needed to touch up my eye look.

I had never used the PF mattes before, though I knew their matte quads were cult-classics. Still, I was really pleasantly surprised with how well the mattes blended on the eye. My own quibble is that the brown looks a lot darker in the pan than how it goes on. I like the color a lot, but it could be a bit misleading.

When I originally anti-hauled this product, I pointed out that having the white metallic and yellow metallic was a missed opportunity, because those shades are so close together. I still agree with this, and wish we had two metallic shadows with greater color discrepancy. Still, the quality of the metallics is really nice. They are high-sheen and are not that messy compared to other shimmery shadows. However, they feel almost gritty to the touch. The white one is more sheer and gritty than the yellow gold.

That being said, I have created really elegant, simple looks with this palette, which is sometimes just what I want- to go back to basics. Of course, the highly metallic, foiled like nature of two of the shadows does make this a step up from your run of the mill basic neutral palette.

If you can find this on Amazon, I think it is a great buy. The mattes are unlike anything I tried before, and are truly easy to work with. The shimmers are lovely, too. The quad gets my recommendation.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday Night Ramblings!

Hello! I've been gone for a minute but now I am back with....another list of things that are upcoming on the blog. I feel that I actually stick to these kinds of lists fairly well, so to reacquaint myself with the blog, that is what I am going to do.

My little absence has not been due to any particular reason aside from the fact that work has gotten very very busy for me but will slow down in like five days. I am excited.

Anyway, what can you expect on the blog? How about the following:

1.) A little trend analysis on the color blue, and how it is popping up in current palettes.
2.) Another vintage product post? That last one took a lot of energy for me, even though it was a lot of fun. I don't think I want to do another eyeshadow palette post. Maybe I'd look into highlighting products before highlighting became what it is now. Or even blushes.
3.) Summer TMO's. There have been so many releases that I straight up have ignored. And currently only one thing is coming out that has my interest piqued- though I could probably dupe it in my collection.
4.) The resurgence of eyeshadow duos.
5.) Summer skin routine.
6.) Easy affordable ways to get that "glass skin" look.
7.) What does it mean to want colorful palettes.
8.) How my eyeshadow technique has changed.
9.) Palette mock-ups- I am just getting the hang of how to do these, and I am so excited! Doing them on a chromebook, however, is a bit challenging, but I already have one palette done based on my horoscope sign. I could do a post breaking it down, and me trying to dupe it in my pre-existing collection/ making a look inspired by it!
10.) and finally, product reviews. I have slowed down with purchases (a little), but I do have some eyeshadow to talk about.

So that is on my to-do list!

Thanks for reading.

March-May Faves and Fails

This is usually my least favorite time of the year. The long stretch. But my favorites and fails this year has been long overdue, and this post has been in my drafts for a long time.

I have a couple of new favorites to talk about, because I feel like I repeat myself so much in these posts, which is why I find myself posting pretty sporadically. I am not going to post pictures of the items, but I am sure you can find reviews for most of these on my blog.

Faves, by type of product:

Face products:

Mac Fix+ . I had underestimated the power of the Fix Plus. I bought the mini one from Ulta, and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. I use a combination of cream and powder products on my face, and this product does really meld everything together. I am very satisfied with this one!
Note: It was very cold and dry in March and April, which is when I used this a lot. But as it is getting a bit more humid out, I feel this does nothing when it comes to preventing oiliness.

BH Cosmetics Studio Pro Total Coverage Concealer. I used this under my eyes and found it to me not drying and very long lasting.

Colourpop No Filter Concealer. A bit lighter than the BH Concealer, but is a thinner formula and easier to blend. I know this concealer got mixed reviews, but I don't see it settling into fine lines.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base. One of the older products in my collection, I keep forgetting to use it, but when I do, I am reminded of how much it helps. It does take a bit of extra work, but I mix it with my concealer under the eye, and I like the results very much. It can make the Colourpop Concealer a bit more emollient, as well as fill in fine lines.

Eyeshadow:

Coastal Scents: Tangelo Tint, Oatmeal Tan, and Pumpkin Pie, were some of my most used singles.

Shiro Cometics, Fleece-Lined Pillow Fort. One day I hope that Shiro makes this a pressed eyeshadow. It is satin finish warm white, and it is one of the shadows I am confident that actually looks good in the inner corner of my eye.

Kiko Milano Champagne. Though this was much sought after by me, it took me a while to warm up to it. Now, though, I use it quite a bit when I am going for an easy, one-shadow look.

Colourpop: Just Hear Me Out, a cream matte shade that is supposed to dupe ABH's Tempera. And Glass Bull.

Face

Coastal Scents Blush in Tarte Purple
Makeup Geek Puppy Love Blush
Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder
Becca Lilac Geode Shimmering Skin Perfector
Wet 'n Wild The Sweetest Bling Highlighter (super fave)
Physician's Formula Full Moon Butter Highlighter
Jordana Cream Contour
Milani Cream Contour (part of the duo)

Skincare:

The Ordinary Retinoid 2%
Pond's Rejuvenating Cream
Goldbond Neck and Chest Cream


Fails:

The Ordinary Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Oil
L'Oreal Voluminous Original
Wet 'n Wild Matte Velvet Lip Crayon in Nude Streak
Physician's Formula Butter Palette Shades in Galactic and Butter Bronzer

Wet 'n Wild Hummingbird Hype: Review and Swatches

Good evening! I have so many reviews planned, but I wanted to do this one first, because I am so excited. My local Walmart, which usually is very behind in selling new product collections, actually had the Wet 'n Wild Flights of Fancy collection! Out of all the products, I had decided to go for Hummingbird Hype, a golden-orange luminous blush.

It is sold as a baked blush, and is in the same packaging as their mega-glo highlighters, in the standard amount of 5.4 g. However, for some reason, instead of $4.98, which they are usually sold for, I paid $3.98. Hm.

Anyway, let's get into the pictures and swatches! As always, you can click on the image for a larger picture.

The design for this collection, which benefits hummingbirds, is a chevron-floral mix. I think I am in the minority that really dislikes chevron. It clashes a bit with florals, and I wonder why they did that. 

 The product in the pan. How gorgeous!! 

On my hand we have a heavy finger swatch on the left, and a blended out swatch on the right. As you can see, this blush has serious shine. It reminded me a lot of Precious Petals, the highlighter, and I was concerned that the blush would act like a highlighter and not a blush. So I decided to compare the two. 

Precious Petals on the left, Hummingbird Hype on the right. PP is brighter and shinier, and HH pulls more orange. 

When the two are blended out, you can really see the difference in the two types of products. PP blends out shiny, but HH still has a color to its base. 

On the face, HH offers a very natural tint of orange, while giving me some glow. Staying power is pretty impressive, and this is one line of products I have no problem collecting.

Hummingbird Hype will be very good for the summer! Also, hummingbirds are glorious creatures. 

Thanks so much for reading! 

Vintage Palettes I Would Have Purchased (pt 1)

I did not become knowledgeable about makeup until about 2014, so I am curious about the different makeup palettes floating out there in the world prior to this awakening. I thought it would be fun to start with the year 2009-2015, and identify palettes I am genuinely sad I missed out on so long ago.

Consider this to be a kind of makeup flashback post, but also a TMO, and shop my stash!

Let's begin with the year I graduated high school and started college. The year was 2009.  My research on what palettes existed during this time yielded not much,  except for the Guerlain Tsarina Palette. I mean, there was no way I was ever going to buy it even if I knew about it, but as someone with Russian roots, there is something so pleasing about the name and design of the palette:

Furthermore, I think it is really interesting we have all the warm tones in here that are considered so essential now (myself included).


Next, 2010. The advent of the Naked Palette. I can see why this was an exciting, pivotal release. I am sure, being such a fan of browns and golds, I would have rocked this palette. However, being the cheapskate that I am, I know I would have purchased and loved the Wet 'n Wild Golden Goddess Coloricon Palette. To this day, I am obsessed with hunting the Coloricon Palettes down. The Golden Goddess one looks like this:

I can't even get good images! All I know that it is a six-pan shimmer palette of golds, coppers, and browns. Though I do have plenty of those colors as of now, I can't deny that this would have been loved by me.


2011
There is one palette that when I found out it existed, I was so upset. I was years too late. We are talking about The Balm Muppet Palette, otherwise known as Cast Your Shadow palette. This is a Muppet Themed Eye Shadow Palette. This is not a drill, folks. 

It looks like this:

Now, to be fair, if I put the packaging aside, I do have a couple of issues with the palette. The muppets are so vibrant, and I am disappointed that the eyeshadows are so muted. This definitely looks like The Nude 'Tude Palette, which I did own a couple of years later. Not only that, this palette came with a lip palette, which I know I would not have used. 

So, even though the packaging and concept is amazing, I hope eventually another brand gets a crack at a collaboration with the Muppets, because I don't think The Balm did the best job, color-wise. 

In 2012, Urban Decay came out with a Vice palette, but that would have been too colorful for me. Instead, I think I would have wanted the Milani Abstract Powder Eyeshadows. 

Each sold for $8.99, and looking at the swatches, the quality did not seem shabby. Even just for the novelty of it, I would have liked to purchase them if I knew they existed.

Moving to a higher price point, I would have absolutely loved the Stila in the Light Eyeshadow Palette. 

It looks so tame now, doesn't it? It almost has the same color scheme as the Aspyn Ovard palette, but I know that college me would have been all over this. As someone not concerned with any complicated eye looks, just wanting to look natural, this is probably a palette I would have gone for.


2013 saw a bit of an explosion in palette offerings. I actually do have memories of influencers talking about the Too Faced Pretty Rebel palette, and looking at it now, it looks like a great palette:

Seriously. It looks well-balanced, fun, and I think it definitely could complete with the color schemes a lot are putting out now, especially Colourpop. 

Additionally, through research I found out about the Sephora Color Anthology, which looks like predecessors to the Pro Palettes:

It looks a little rough around the edges, and a bit overwhelming, but the swatches I saw online looked pretty decent. I think as a novice back in the day, I would have loved something like this. 

The purple lover in me would absolutely have been drawn to the ABH Catwalk Palette:

as well as the Laura Mercier Eye Artist Palette:

But also because I loved and still love gemstone related things, Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette would have called to me, even though realistically I don't know what I would have done with that teal....

So, I think I'll wrap it up here friends. 2013 definitely seems to be the starting point for the palette craze...I'll finish up this post with a second part, so stay tuned! 

I Depotted the Physician's Formula Butter Palette

Depotting the products in this palette was something I had considered as soon as it arrived in the mail. I am learning that I am not a fan of all-in-one face palettes, but I had assumed that it was a guarantee that all the products in this palette would be equally fabulous and therefore worth keeping them all together in that packaging.

That was not the case.

It is pretty clear, for someone very familiar with the texture and scent of the original Butter Bronzer, that what is included in this palette is a watered-down, less pigmented, stiffer, version.

I also discovered that the formula of the silver glitter highlighter, Galactic, was incredibly soft, as it ended up cracking in the pan on me the second week of owning the palette. After I did not do anything to it.

With this in mind, and considering the bulkiness of the palette, I decided to depot. And I know there were concerns about the product drying out, but the new palettes I placed the product in have the same amount of "protection" than the original, so I am not bothered.

1.) How did I do it?

Before using a depotting tool to lift out the pans, I pried out the layer of plastic that held the pans from the cardboard base. This easy to do. The plastic was relatively thin and flexible so I was able to cut around each pan with a scissor. Once I had an individual shade, I pulled pack the plastic to make space to stick my depotting tool in and pop out the pan.

The only one I did not do this for was Galactic. Because that product was already broken and a mess, I used my depotting tool to deposit the product into an empty Colourpop Super Shock Shadow container, which I then pressed.

2.) Results:

We have Full Moon and Butter Bronzer in my large highlighter z-palette. I was not thrilled about putting the bronzer there, but I don't have anywhere else to put it. 

Ideally, I want Full Moon to be in a single, because it is hands down my favorite. 

Natural Glow Blush with the rest of my blush. I think the placement of this works. 

Finally, Galactic in the Super Shock Shadow Container. Hopefully I breathed new light into this product, and I will use it as a gittery eyeshadow, perfect for that glossy eye look.