Z-Palette Update

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I talked about my z-palette collection. As of now, I am alternating between two palettes- a 12 pan Livancy Palette, and an XL Z-palette. I really enjoy the Livancy palette and hope to purchase at least one more as a way to store and use the rest of my singles.

I've decluttered two eyeshadows, which were quite hard for me:
1.) Dose of Colours Mint Chip (from the Eyes Cream palette)
2.) Coastal Scents 18 K Gold (a gold that was getting no use from me).

The mint one is of such good quality that I technically did not declutter it, but rather set it aside.

Anyway, this is what the XL z-palette looks like now:

Notable additions include most of the mattes from the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette. I do like the shimmers and wanted to declutter them as well, but the pans are so flimsy I'd end up tearing them.

Also, we have Stila Kitten, which was very easy to de-pot. I figure I will use it up more if it complements a palette.

Moving on to my other palette:

This is the left side, with the mattes.

Notable additions include the second shadow in the second row, Looxi Durty, as well as the first two shadows in the third row- Green Apple and Pumpkin Spice Life.

My precious shimmers!!

 Okay for the above picture, the middle shade in the left column is a depotted Rose Gold from Ardency Inn. I was shocked at how easy it was to de-pot. The shadow next to it is also new- Looxi Dollface!

So that's it! I really like my collection. If you see any shade in particular you want more info about, please let me know!

Eyeliner Collection and Declutter

For someone who hates applying eyeliner, I have so much of it.

Party the reason for this is subscription boxes, but also because for the longest time, I have been someone on the hunt for the perfect, HG product. However, that does not exist.

What I have learned, however, is that for my eyeshape and preferences, an eyeliner has to be three things:

1. black
2. waterproof
3. brush tip

Felt tip, as popular as it is, skips on my eyelids. And because my eyes are prone to watering, I need something that can last the day. 

I am not going to provide swatches only because I don't want to waste product. 

So, I'll go through what I have, talk about each one, and decide what I am going to do with them. 

Let's start!

1. Physician's Formula Eye Booster in Ultra Black and Black. Waterproof, long-lasting, and brushtip. The regular black shade is a little too brown-toned, but Ultra Black is perfect. This is basically the closest I have to an HG. I am so obsessed about these, which are too expensive in my opinion (@ $8-11), that when I am running low, I buy back-ups and use them simultaneously, which makes absolutely no sense. So now I have three that I am using up, having no idea which of them has the most product. 

2. LA Splash Ark-I-Tekt Eyeliner, Waterproof. $14. I have a review up on my blog about this. It is not as waterproof as the Physician's Formula one, but slightly easier to apply (smoother). However, the brush bristles have continually bent out of shape for me, making me have to snip some off. And I can't store it upside down or else the product will flood the tip. I know I am making this eyeliner sound like a nightmare, but it's not that bad. I will use it up, but not repurchase. 

3. Lioele Brush-Pen Eyeliner, $2.99. I found this today at TJ Maxx and bought it on the name alone. I am so paranoid that the world will stop making brush-tip eyeliners so I have this impulse to hoard them. Anyway, I have not used this for any prolonged amount of time, but I did apply it to me eyes today and I like what I see so far. It is smaller than the other eyeliners in my collection. 

4. Speaking of small eyeliners, I also have the NYX "That's The Point, Hella Fine Eyeliner." I found this at Target for about $9.00. It is felt tip, but the tip is super small, which I like. I use this to create small wings. 

5. Clio Calligraphy Liner in Kill Black. Another K-Beauty TJ Maxx purchase. I will be decluttering this one, for as cool as the shape of the felt-tip is, this stuff rubs off too easily. 

6. I will also be decluttering, unfortunately, the Wet 'n Wild holiday/Halloween 2018 eyeliner in Later Witches, a coppery brown metallic with some microglitter. I don't want to declutter it because of the name, but the formula is so chunky and hard to apply. Later, witches. 

7. I am going to hold on to Physician's Formula Matte Lacquer Gel Cream Eyeliner in Ultra Black, the ill-fated dupe to the ill-fated Benefit Push-Up Liner. I love this formula so much, even though the applicator is so unwieldy. I plan to use more of it, especially for smudgier looks. 

8. Another non-brush eyeliner I will be holding on to is the PIXI Endless Silky Eye Pen, in a trial size. This glides onto my eye really well and stays put. 

9. I will be getting rid of one NYX Jumbo eye pencil, in Cottage Cheese. I bought it for the name but I don't use it. 

10. I will also be getting rid of the Jordana Color Envy "Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner" in Antique Gold. Waterproof it is not. 

11. The NYX Wonder P encil used to be really useful for me, but I stopped using it for some reason. I used to use it a lot last year to correct eyeshadow and liner mistakes. I am going to keep it around, just in case. 

12. Speaking of NYX, who seems to be highly represented in this list, I also have the Faux Blacks liner in Black Olive. I like the concept of this line, and I like the color and formula. I have not been using it  really but I plan to. 

13. I will be decluttering the elf Stardust Glitter Eyeliner in Pink Opal. I bought it because the name reminded me of the MAC pigments, but this is the opposite, in terms of pigment. It's a very weak eyeliner. 

14. I will be decluttering a Ciate Star Stamp/Eyeliner that I got from an Ipsy bag. I never use this, nor will I. Felt tips just don't agree with me, thought the formula is fine.

15. Speaking of stamps, I will be keeping the Vogue Effects Eyeliner Wing Stamp. This is a very convenient product. The actual formula is fine- it's not the deepest black ever, but it does not run. 

So, final count!

This is what I am keeping:

12 products

And  I am giving away:

6 products

Not bad!

Thanks so much for reading! 

Maybelline City Mini Palette in Blushed Avenue: Review and Swatches

Hello hello! This is a quick review of a small palette I picked up at Walmart the other day. I have had experiences with the City Mini Palettes before, and for the most part I liked them. Maybelline is releasing more that I think offer better color options.

One in particular I thought was quite pretty was the palette in Blushed Avenue:

It retails for about $8.00 at Walmart.

I personally have a soft spot for both Maybelline and Covergirl quads. I find that eyeshadows with this "slurry" formulation, as coined by the Muse (of Musings of a Muse) are quite blendable and easy to work with.

Here are some swatches:

 The dark purple is a bit drier than the other shadows, but still I find it quite usable and not as hard to blend as the ones found in the Colourpop Good Sport palette.

The two shimmers are a little disappointing. Knowing that Maybelline is capable of very shimmery and shiny shadows make these rather muted cranberry and peach shimmers lackluster.

Then we have two mid-toned mattes- a pink and a light orange. Both for me are perfect transition shades. They are light, but stay on the eye all day with primer.

The cream shade is a very light peach and performs adequately.

Below is a look I did with the light orange transition in my crease. The flash on my camera mutes the colors a bit, but it did help me make a very blown-out and blended look.

Overall, these are very trendy but very standard shades. They remind me a lot of the Carli Bybel Deluxe palette. Still, I plan on using this more- especially the mattes. This is an excellent drug store option.

Thanks for reading!

Makeup Movie Inspo vo. 2: Cher in Moonstruck

After making my last post, which was on Renee Zellweger in Down With Love, I put this series on hold, only because I didn't have any conscious, obvious examples of makeup in film that were especially striking to me.

But then over time, some ideas rose to the surface, and I found one good example of a makeup look that- to me- was an essential bit of makeup inspiration.

We're talking about Cher in Moonstruck, one of my favorite movies of all time. There will be spoilers for it, so be warned.

In my Jewish-Russian and German immigrant family, Moonstruck is a beloved film. It's some parts cynical, some parts hopeful, and filled with honest and fun performances from a prestigious cast of actors.

(This is probably the subject of another essay, but I also especially love the film's use of fairy tales.)

But let's talk about makeup. And not the obvious example, either, as Cher's character, Loretta, undergoes a little bit of a makeover in preparation for a date at the Met.

I mean, it's good. But not my focus here.

No, I am talking about pre- ( and a little but of post-) makeover Loretta.

We'll start when Loretta, who is engaged to Johnny (Danny Aiello), pays Johnny's younger brother Ronnie (Nic Cage) a visit at Johnny's request. You see, there's bad blood between the two brothers, and Johnny hopes that Loretta can help convince Ronnie to attend the wedding.

Unfortunately, Ronnie erupts in anger at the fact that Johnny gets to have a wife, while he can't. It is Johnny's fault, Ronnie argues, that Ronnie lost his hand in a freak accident which then caused his girlfriend to leave him.

The first look I am highlighting here for you is when Loretta is spitting some truth to Ronnie:

Click on the image for a larger version.

With small frizzles of grey hair and two very confident eyebrows, this look is amazing. First of all, Cher's skin is flawless. There is some subtle highlighting on her cheekbones, and her nose and sides of her face have a very natural flush. I don't think she is wearing any lip color, but over all her face has a very natural, peachy, flushed look to it. I love how her hair is bundled back- but still curly and voluminous. She's wearing grey, and the taupe/grey shadows of her deep-set eyes complement beautifully her coloring.

Moving on, let's look at Cher after she and Ronnie end up spending the night together:

SNAP OUT OF IT!

Her cheekbones are intense. The use of blush definitely helps, and I am fairly confident there us a dusting of blush on her nose.

The more natural looks are excellent in this movie. My last exhibit is Cher at the end, when she accepts Ronnie's proposal.

The brows are feathery, the lips and cheeks are peachy, and there is perhaps a darker contour shade emphasizing her cheekbones. 

So why do I think this look is so enduring? Even before she falls in love with Ronnie, there is a great duality to Cher's look in this film. Her eyes are shadowed and piercing, but overall her face makeup is very soft and warm, perhaps also why grey is such a good color for her. She looks ethereal. 

What products would I recommend to help achieve this look? Not many people, I understand, have Cher's bone structure (I certainly don't). But in my collection, I think I have a few products that would be great for achieving some elements of Cher's look:

1. An illuminating translucent powder. My own personal fave is Milani's Prep+Set+Glow.

2. Blurring products: Personally I am not a fan of silicone-heavy blurring products, but I would imagine those would help achieve a pore-less lewk.

3. Sheer grey/taupe eyeshadows: Covergirl has one in its Blushing Blooms quad, but there are some nice taupes in the Modern Renaissance and Norvina palette. 

4. Peach blush! Either matte or satin finish. Some of my own products inlcude Coral Cove by Milani and Tarte Paaarty. It is important that the blush is peach because that tone kind of glows off the skin. Whatever sort of peach blush you use, I would go ham, and not be afraid to blend it upwards toward the temples, and a little bit on the nose as well. 

5. A neutral highlighter. For my pale skin tone, Here Kitty Kitty by Colourpop would suffice. I would also suggest using the highlighting powder under foundation, to blur it out a bit more. I would limit the placement of the highlighter, however, to the cheek bones only. 

6. Lip products: Vaseline Rosy Tint Balm. Not kidding.

7. Contour: A light dusting of darker-toned powder in the hollows of the cheek bones. 

8. Eyebrow gel to fluff out the brows. 

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this post, especially if you're a fan of this film. 

Buh-byeeeee! 

Designing My Own Pumpkin Spice Palette

Hello! Today I have a rather fun post. After watching an anti-haul video from one of my favorite Youtubers, Smokey Glow, I decided to design my own Pumpkin Spice Palette, using colors already in my collection. In her anti-haul, she talked about how disappointed she was in the Too Faced version, after accurately prediction they would roll one out for the holidays.

After listening to her describe the types of colors she would include, and using my own preferences as well, this is what I came up with!

The palette is from Livancy Palettes, who can be found on Etsy. This was a new purchase for me and I'm quite liking it!

Fleece-Lined Pillow Fort Shiro	Crown Coloured Raine	Let Me Explain Colourpop	Heir Coloured Raine	Lay Low Colourpop	Tangy Dijon Vanessa’s Vanity
Tangelo Tint Coastal Scents	Empress Coloured Raine	Royal Prerogative Coloured Raine	Team Captain Colourpop	18K Gold Coastal Scents	Chauffeur Colourpop
Rapunzel Had Extensions Fyrinnae	Your Majesty Coloured Raine	Bohemian Looxi	20-Something Colourpop	Boujee Looxi	Mirage Looxi

Now I know there are a lot of neutral shimmers in this palette. But that's just how I roll. And while these shimmers could easily be written off as "neutral," each of them contain something special about them- either a high-shine factor, or duochromatic quality, that make them integral to the palette. 

Looking at the palette, in terms of how the colors are balanced it reminds me a little of the Norvina palette. But I think I need to switch out the pale coral matte, Lay Low, and replace it with another warm brown. Maybe. Overall, the goal is to use warm orange and browns, and maybe a hint of green.

By the way, I am not a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Person (tm) by any means. But I do very much enjoy Wawa's Pumpkin Spice coffee. I highly recommend it. 

Anyway, I'll try to use this palette this week and report back with my thoughts!

And if you have not yet seen my review, I do have another fall/harvest-themed palette from Colourpop that I personally feel has some excellent shades, The Good Sport Palette:

Thanks for reading!

Brands I Haven't Tried and Why (Hard-hitting Investigative Journalism), pt 1

Hello! Hope you all are well. I wanted to write up a quick post today, inspired by some recent bloggers I've seen who have made these types of videos.

I have already talked about brands I won't support. This includes Jeffree Star, Lime Crime, and Kat Von D.

Today I want to delve more into brands that don't appear to have such flagrant issues, but something still prevents me from making a purchase.

Hope you enjoy!

The first up is Certifye, a UK-based brand.

You've seen these palettes. They have white cardboard packaging and the eyeshadows are housed in portrait mode rather than landscape. I am sure there is a better way to say that. Anyway, they have a number of very vibrant color schemes, and their palettes have been lauded by many a "micro-influencer."

The problem? Even though this is an indie brand, I can't shake off the feeling of whole sale and price inflation. Their ingredients from their website:

Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Kaolin, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Stearate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Methylparaben,
Propylparaben, May contain Manganese,
Violet, Hydrated Chrome Oxide

I am seeing these ingredients come up for much less expensive products, some hits from ali express.

Though all these ingredients are eye-safe, they are not the best, and I know I could make a safer purchase for a higher quality product for around the same price.

Not only that, when it comes to colorful eyeshadow, I don't have a particular desire for ALL THE COLORS. So much of the palette would go unused.

Maybe they'll go the Morphe route? But that brings me to my next part:

2.) Morphe

So what is Morphe's Secret Status? Is it still private labeling from Crown  Brushes? Their newest palette, the 35M Boss Mood Palette is speaking to me. It looks a little like my CP Good Sport Palette, as well as that one lime green/chartreuse neon from the BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil palette. This is the palette that nearly swayed me:

Ingredients are:
Mica, Talc, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Dimethicone, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Magnesium Stearate, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Silica, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tin Oxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Capryl

Let's also, just for fun, look at the ingredients of the Jaclyn Hill palette (not the vault):
Talc, Mica, Kaolin, Dimethicone, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Capryl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin. May contain: Isononyl Isononanoate, Isostearyl Isostearate, Nylon-12, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Magnesium Stearate, Silica, Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Iron Oxide Black (CI77499), Iron Oxide Yellow (CI77492), Iron Oxide Red (CI77491), Hydrated Chromium Oxide Green (CI77289), Ultramarine Blue (CI77007), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI77510), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI77288), Manganese Violet (CI77742), FD&C Red 40 AI Lake (CI16035), FD&C Yellow 5 AI Lake (CI19140), FD&C Blue 1 AI Lake (CI42090).

So, in 2018, its ingredients seem to be different than the stereotypical Morphe palettes from before their re-branding of sorts.

In 2015, Morphe's ingredients were: Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Kaolin, Titanium Dioxide, magnesium Stearate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Lanolin, Methylparaben. May contain:Mica and titanium Dioxide, Iton Oxides, Magnese Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Chrome Oxide Green, Hydrated Chrome Oxide Green, FD&C Red No.40 Al Lake, FD&C Yellow No.5 Al Lake, FD&C Blue No.1 Al Lake..

So this is when they were buying from whole salers, but they go back as far as 2009 for doing that.  You want to see the types of palettes Morphe was selling in like 2010? Feast your eyes upon this:

So while I do think Morphe is one the right track, I think it needs to keep going and maybe find an alternative to aggressively using influencers. That being said, its past and practices haven't really deterred sales. So maybe I am just being a fuddy duddy.

3.) Ace Beaute

Speaking of random "amazing" palettes from unknown brands, I am pretty cautious of this one, though I do think its release was quite impressive.

However, again, what do the ingredients say?

Huh. And Pinky Rose and Bad Habit are more affordable.

Look, I don't want to appear as though I am roasting these brands for trying. Not at all. But recently I feel as though some brands seem to be appealing for appearing to be unique or indie or what have you, but you are not getting the quality. I know they are sending their stuff to smaller influencers, or smaller influencers are using them as a springboard to review products and generate content. Bad Habit is one of them who has been pretty blatant about that. But I know personally I am going to be cautious and not buy from these brands right now. 

I just think, as a consumer, I want to be able to buy from small indie brands without buying whole-sale or private label products. That's all. 

I know I have more to discuss, but I wanted to get these out of the way first, so stay tuned for a part 2.

Any brands similar to these that you've stayed away from?

Or, if you have tried these brands, what do you think of the quality? Curious to know! 

Products I Did Not Expect to Love, pt 3

We're back with another installment of products I did not expect to love! As I've said in previous posts, first impressions can certainly be reliable, but I find that many times I approach a product in one way and the product does not end up being interesting or useful to me. Over time, and as my technique and sense of things improves, I end up finding things in my collection that I do enjoy, and my first impressions are not correct.

So, let's get into it!

Milani Prep Set + Glow Powder. Note: I think I mentioned this powder in a previous post. But since then, I have found another use for this powder- to set my under-eye concealer.

Why I didn't like it before? I thought it was rather expensive, at around $9.00. And previously I was less than thrilled with the concept of translucent powders.

Why do I like it now? It smells amazing, has lasted a really long time, and works well to set my undereye concealer,  which is the Maybelline Fit Me. I have experienced some creasing, so I needed a good powder that wouldn't exacerbate the fine lines there.  Other powders I own are too drying, but this powder is not.

Looxi Aurora Shadow, Mirage. This one was a bit of a journey. I had purchased it with several other Looxi shadows, and it stood out for being- though glittery- not as smooth or "wet" feeling as the other shadows. It did not swatch well, nor did it work well with Pixie Epoxy. But.....it is such a nice color for my skin tone. It is a pinky peach duochrome with flecks of gold and maybe even a bit of green. It's not too warm nor too cool. It's perfectly complimentary in the way ABH Amber eyeshadow was for my skin tone.

And I've found better ways to use it- over a sticky base, and brushed over with a looser, fluffy/flat shadow brush. The glitter particles catch on the base, and build up nicely. Once I understood that it had to be applied slightly differently than the other shadows, it quickly became one of my favorite shadows of all time.

Makeup Geek Blush, Puppy Love. I bought this blush when I first was getting into makeup, and MUG was a huge deal, as was its sales. I don't recall how much I paid for Puppy Love, but I was drawn to its brown/rose tone. Unfortunately, when I saw how pigmented it was in person, I was immediately intimidated- I didn't know how to use it. It is one of those blushes that are so pigmented they could be easily used as an eyeshadow. But, thanks to the internet, I found that mixing Puppy Love with a less pigmented blush easily diffuses it and makes it easier to work with- which I have been doing.

I also have learned to use a larger, fluffier brush with it, and not to be so intimidated by putting rouge on my cheeks. Puppy Love ended up being a blush I use almost daily, and I have a slight dip in the pan.

Wet 'n Wild Dulce de Leche Contouring Palette, $5.00. 

I bought this because of Rich Lux, as well as other sources on the internet. I've had it maybe for a year and a half, but only started using it daily since the summer. Why I didn't think I'd like it? Because the brown seemed too warm and the cream too dark to use it as a highlighting powder. Basically, I bought it for no reason, and thought maybe I could just used up the cream tone as a way to set my eyeshadow primer, as I could not use it the way it was suggested (diagram and all).

But I've been using cream contour powders lately and have found that if I mix the cream and brown together, I get just enough warmth and just enough powder to set the cream product. With that in mind, the powder has been useful, and I hope to pan it eventually.

So that's all I have for tonight! Do you have any of these? If so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading!