Skin Care Product Review Round-Up

Cerave AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion, SPF 30

This is the second purchase I've made of it, and I've finished about 75% of it. I use this lotion daily. There are a few negative reviews online from people who have experienced pilling- meaning the product clumps up on their skin and doesn't allow them to blend their makeup in. I find for me, the product only "pills" when I've used too much, specifically in hotter weather. I have combo-oily skin, but get really dry in the winter. This face product is still my holy grail. I love the smell of it, but I do wish it could be even more moisturizing. 

Saturday Skin Featherweight Daily Moisturizing Cream

I bought this cream in the summer, and have been using it consistently. The one I have is in the travel size (I think-30 mL), because I bought it part of a set. However, I am not even close to finishing it. I don't use this cream in the morning, I use it at night because I think it's light but hydrating enough that I can layer it with other products. When I wake up in the morning my skin is definitely glowy and refreshed. At full size it is $49, so I am probably not going to repurchase. 

Physician's Formula Skin Booster Vitamin Shot: Time Restoring

This is part of PF's brand new line of serums. I bought this one because 1.) it was purple/pink and 2.) Time Restoring makes me think of the far more expensive Missha one. But does it do anything? It's a bit hard to say- it hasn't broken me out, though. I have used about 40% of the bottle so far, and I have been layering it with the Moisturizing Cream at night. I do like the results, but I have no idea if I would repurchase.

Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Serum

Retional-SA

And here we have the big kahuna. This serum I purchased as an alternative to The Ordinary's Retinoid 2% serum, which used to be my favorite. I have- for a couple of years now- have had pretty deep forehead lines and a cluster of lines above my eyebrow. And within a day I saw results, which I know sounds pretty extreme. But I was shocked. I do want to exercise caution, though. I used a bit of it on my cheeks and a little too much on my forehead the first time I used it, and the next morning I had two small little breakouts in those areas. So I only use a light amount in the target areas, and I have not had any problems since. I really do like this serum and probably would repurchase. 

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Celestial Eye of the Day + Tutorial

This is not actually the eye look I wore today, but rather a couple of days ago. I used a couple of products which I will list, but then provide swatches to show the colors one would need to replicate this look.

So, I used:

1.) Strawberry Mousse from Looxi

2.) Inglot Matte 362
3.)  Two Matte purples (depotted) from the BH Cosmetics Zodiac Palette

4.) Crown (depotted) from the Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette

5.) Calypso by Nabla

The swatches, in order of how I applied the shadows:

I first placed the very light cool pink in the transition and blended it pretty far upward. This particular one by Looxi is quite powdery. I then took the Inglot shadow, which builds up extremely well, into the crease. 

After putting down glitter glue, I added the shimmer shades. I first applied Crown to the inner third of my lid, and then Calypso blended into that, to the middle. 

As much as I try, I am not the best with blending darker shades on my outer lid. I took the two BH burgundy purples on the outer corner, and diffused it even more with the Inglot pink. 

Overall, though, I really like this look! It has my favorite colors, including my favorite purple shimmer, which I feel like I have been looking for forever. I tend to like warmer purples. If I did this look again, I would probably blend my transition colors further up and closer to my brow. 

Finally, the look would not be complete without my highlighter, which I found in my stash as a loose pigment from Shiro, in the shade Milk-Light of Moon, basically a green toned highlighter on me:

So that's it! Thanks for reading! 

Maybelline Snapscara in Pitch Black: Review

With some fanfare, Maybelline recently released a small line of mascaras that claim to be super easy to wash off. Unlike other mascaras, this is a tubing mascara (I think) that does not contain any wax. It's been a couple of weeks, but I believe I purchased mine from Target for $6.00.

A little about my eyes before we proceed: they are quite sensitive and protrude slightly. My lashes curl, but they tend to go in many different directions. I also use castor oil/serums on my lashes, as well as just take mascara breaks, because prolonged mascara use tends to make them stubby. 

Now, let's get into the product. It contains .34 fl oz and is contained in a hard plastic, rounded rectangular tube. The wand is tipped with a curved pine-cone shaped applicator, which is too wide at the base for my liking. I tend to like more uniform, thinner applicators. 

The formula is not too wet and is very easy to brush on. This is what my eye looks like without mascara:

Without redipping the mascara wand, this is what my eye looks like when brushed through with the mascara a couple of times. Also, for more pictures, I believe I have been wearing this mascara in most of my recent pictures from this month. 

It is a very light mascara, and I agree warm water is best for easiest removal. The product does come off in little clumps. 

I really enjoy using this mascara, and I like the look it gives me. I don't think it extends my lashes that much, but it creates a lot of depth and volume that makes my lashes look really wispy and full. 

My work day is 6+ hours, and by the end of it I have noticed a little bit of flaking, but nothing crazy. 

Overall, I stand by my original stance that Maybelline makes some of the best mascaras, and if you have sensitive eyes, I think you would enjoy this product. 

Products I Wish Specific Brands Would Release (text post)

So this is an article I pulled out from the Vault...and by that I mean my drafts. I don't remember when I began making this- whenever Nisipisa made her excellent video which included a point about how ABH should just release singles from their Glowkits.. anyway, not only do I want to add to this list, I will also provide my commentary on my original thoughts.

BH Cosmetics

Single pressed shadows. I don't know if you know this or not, but if you looked at swatches from their Studio Pro Palette, the Carli Bybel Palette, and the Zodiac Palette, it is clear that BH has a winning formula on its hands. If they could sell single shadows, they would definitely give Colourpop a run for its money.

Present-day me: I still agree with this. I am now noticing, though, that BH is more amenable to making palettes that are smaller, and some that even look like Colourpop or earlier Sigma palettes. Case in point:

So maybe, just maybe we are one step closer. I would like that matte formula, BH. Do not disappoint me.

Sugarpill

Blushes and face powders that are permanent. I never have tried Sugarpill eyeshadows before, but from what I have seen they are terrific. The brand is a lot of fun, and I think they would put colors on the market that people have not seen before. I know some of their palettes could be used on the face, but again, those are limited edition. I am talking about compacts.

Present-day me: Frankly, I am surprised I even researched this or knew about this. I do not remember typing this. Oh well. At one point I cared enough to be annoyed at the fact that Sugarpill face products only came in limited edition palettes. But you know what? Even though Sugarpill is a quality brand, I never felt compelled to buy anything from them. I mean I guess I did at one point, if I even wrote that. But I couldn't have cared too much since I've only just been reminded of it.

Fyrinnae

I love Fyrinnae loose shadows. I think this brand is excellent for people who know exactly what they want. Some single shadows are offered in pressed versions, but at a greater expense. It is a more labor intensive product. Buuuuut I wonder what a Fyrinnae palette would look like. It would be expensive, but I know it would be stunning.

Present-day me: Okay, so the successful release of Sydney Grace's Autumn eyeshadow palette makes me think the market would be open for an indie-pressed palette. They wouldn't all have to be duochromes, even though I do remember envisioning an all-duochrome palette (which I documented the drawbacks to in a recent post). I think this would still be interesting, but a high price tag on this fictional makeup item I thought up does not make me excited.

Too Faced

I don't actually mind their cutesy-themed thing. I really don't. The only thing that bothers me (as discussed in my mermaid article) is that the imitation across brands really dilutes the effect and makes brands lose identity. Think about how many fruit-themed things are popping up in the drugstores now.  But the thing is, it certainly is on-brand for Too Faced. I for one would LOVE a Strawberry collection. Cool-toned pink is having a moment. But with that in mind, bring on more themed stuff, Too Faced! Chocolate, then Fruit, Festival, Unicorns, what else?

Present-day me: I cared about Too Faced, huh? And I didn't get the Strawberry idea out of the ether, either. Jarodd Blandino, Mr. "Rich Lives Matter" himself hinted at a strawberry-something a while ago on his Insta. But since that racist message on his birthday cake Too Faced will not be getting my money any time soon.

And now, let me amend the post with some newer, fresher ideas:

Give Me Glow Cosmetics: Smaller eyeshadow pans. Duh.

Pat McGrath Labs: Singles. Did I say a fresh idea? No, this idea has been twice baked. Like biscotti. But only because the people are crying for them!

Colourpop: A clear squeezy-tube multi-functional gloss. A lot of very serious makeup brands have these. MAC (I am just learning now!) has it (AT ONE POINT I SWEAR IT WAS DISCONTINUED OMG). MAC sells it for $23. I have only learned about it because of Dustin Hunter, who swears Mac Clear Gloss (NOT a lipglass) is the best highlighter. And Danessa Myricks has a similar product for $18 called Clear Glaze from her ColorFix line, and Linda Hallberg has something called Infinity Glass for $29. So why is all this information under CP? Because Colourpop is not afraid to produce editorial-like things.  They could make a clear jelly-like face product (whatever that range is called), or just put something in a squeezy tube.

A couple of things that would go against this idea. CP is all about squeezing out new things. So to have a permanent, very functional product (albeit one that could supplement everything else) at a very affordable price I don't know. I think they would be the brand to do it, and do it well.

Physician's Formula: There was a highlighter shade called Full Moon in their face palette they released last summer. I would like it in a single, please.

And that's it! I am stilling reeling from the fact that Mac Clear Gloss is back. If I do end up buying a face gloss, though, it will probably be from Danessa Myricks, because hers is the more affordable option.

Thanks for reading!

Trying New Techniques with the Subculture Palette

Did I mention I bought the Subculture palette?

Probably not. Upon its contentious, controversial, dramatic, tragic, tragicomic, etc. etc. release I stayed far away. Too much trouble, I said to myself. Definitely not worth $40-something, I said to myself.

But what about $22? sang the siren's call of TJ Maxx.

Hm.

And for the most part, I avoided purchasing from TJ Maxx for at least two months since it started popping up.

But eventually I caved. I caved because 1.) I am drawn to iconic color stories, 2.) I am sort of an ABH stan (only sort of), and 3.)  as much as the quality of the palette is debatable, I thought it had a place in my collection.

I plan on reviewing the entire palette later, but I will say that it has pushed me to branch out a little bit and try new techniques, which I very much appreciate. These new techniques are required by the type of products in this palette.

For example, Subculture contains these matte shades that are not kidding about being matte. They are so serious, so serious about being matte you guys. They don't move an inch once you place them down. Which is a shame. How am I supposed to blend that?

(Now, I should note I knew about these issues before I bought the palette. )

Well, what about liner? I actually don't mind using powder to line my eyes, as long as I have a good lining brush. In this case, the Luxie 215 Small Angle brush was the one I used for this following lewk:

Now, don't get me wrong. I know this look is super basic. But for me, I was trying things that I normally never do. And I liked the results. 

So we have remnants of Stila Kitten on the lid, and then from the Subculture palette: Dawn as the transition, New Wave on the outercorner. I put down a brown-toned Physicians Formula liner, and packed the shade Rowdy on top of it. 

Using Rowdy, I then made a small wing. I was not liking the appearance of the wing, so I drew a line downwards and connected it. 

I then brought Rowdy further along my lash line. I used Fudge with the Cargo Magic Eye Brush, which is just a small, very densely packed blending brush to blend. And then I took Dawn also on the lower lash line and swept it across the blend Rowdy a bit more. 

My thoughts?

I think I definitely am going to be doing this in the future. It was't too difficult nor time-consuming. I would just work on shrinking down the wing a little bit so it doesn't look so hooked.

Thanks for reading!

Duping Nars Danger Control Palette

Does anyone remember this palette? It came out almost a year ago, and I literally do not remember anyone talking about it. Partly the reason for that is the fact that Nars limited edition eye palettes have a very uniform look to them, so it's hard to distinguish among them.

However,  I was browsing swatches of some new palette on Temptalia's site, and I noticed she listed a shade called "Aeryn Sun" as a dupe. Interesting, I thought to myself. That's the name of one of the best characters in a really great show called Farscape. To what indie brand does this belong to?

And that led me to finding out about this palette- a palette of light duochrome shimmers that was technically limited edition, but still can be purchased on some online retailers, like Macy's.

The palette is called Danger Control, cost $59, and looks like this:

No, this is not a mind-blowing palette. Other brands have done duochromes, and these are very light. I get that.

But I still find this palette very...me. But rather than spend money on it, I thought I would conduct research to see if I could dupe it in my collection.

So, let's begin!

The first shade is called Rave, and I duped it with Colourpop's Prowlin'. Rave is definitely more silver/gray toned, and while Prowlin' has a pale gold reflect. While I definitely am interested in silver tones now, Prowlin' makes a suitable replacement.

The second shade is Elektra, and it has been done to death. This was the shade of 2017-2018, in a way, making appearances in many a palette- basically a warm pink with a gold reflect. I have this in a pressed glittery pigment version in Looxi's Dollface, and the fourth shade in the Carli Bybel Deluxe palette.

Third was surprisingly difficult- the name that began my quest for this dupe palette, Aeryn Sun. The picture above is misleading. It is a really pale champagne shimmer with a silvery shine. The best I could do was Stila Kitten.

Fourth is Bionic, another classic duochrome- a warm white with gold reflect. You can find this in many places, including Coastal Scents Elven Gold and Colourpop Now and Zen. For me, I chose the center highlight shade in the BH Cosmetics Zodiac Palette.


And fifth was the most difficult, because the color shift was really hard to see online. Haedus is a weird light peachy base with a pink/purple shift. Looking at more pictures, Nabla Millennium probably would have sufficed, but I chose Surreal Makeup highlighter in Frost Wyrm, which is described as lilac shifting.

Finally, Tonic is a cool toned purple shimmer. I chose Nabla's Calypso which is warmer, but that is my ideal purple shimmer. Another option is Celestial from the Norvina palette.

And below I swatched Celestial and Carli Bybel #4 for reference.

So what did I learn? As much as I like the idea of an all-duochrome palette, I have to consider that in a palette, the subtleties of each color can get a little lost. Stepping back, the palette just looks very light, and it looks like it can be a face palette for most skin tones, if the actual base color of the shades are sheer enough. Though duochromes are special and fun, I definitely think something got lost in this palette.

If Nars could make face duos or just eye duos with the same formula and the shades broken up this way, I think that would be more consumer-friendly.

So that's all I got, thanks for reading!

Small Lil' Ulta Haul and Reviews

So before my coupon expired, I bought three things.

1.) The Morphe 505 Tapered Blending Brush. Yes, I actually bought something from Morphe. The brush has their rebranded logo on it and cost $6.00 (without applying coupon). It has a nice weight and length to it. As I was looking through their brush selection,  I realized that I don't actually own any tapered blending brushes. All my blending brushes are fluffy and fan outwards slightly.

Upon using the brush, I was blown away. Why wasn't I using tapered brushes before? I have a lot more control of the product, and a much easier and smoother blend. Below is a look I did today, using the Subculture Palette, and I believe Clionadh's Toasted:

I was really impressed with this brush and plan on buying more from Morphe in the future. 

2.) Mac Mini Strobe Cream in Pink Pearls, $12.  I used this today and like the results. I think this will be a product I use more in the winter, because I do get very sweaty and oily in the summer. It smells very similar to the original Fix Plus. I have it swatched here on my hand, but have also applied it to be face, but I have not gotten long term use out of it yet. I remember Dustin Hunter mentioned that you get more of a value if you buy the mini compared to the full size.

All I know is that as it is getting cold outside, I am really into cream and liquid products. I am also afraid I am being turned into a Mac person, which I find hilarious because the only other brands I have this weird collector mentality about tend to be drugstore and indie. But on my radar for a possible next thing to try from Mac is one of their loose powders, like Silver Dusk or Gold. 

3.) Makeup Revolution Concealer. Yes, the one that is supposed to dupe Shape Tape. I have and will never use Shape Tape, so I can't comment on that. I have been wearing this concealer for three days in a row now. The color I selected is C1, the fairest one with neutral undertones. I like the fact that it is more neutral because most of my concealers have skewed a little pink, but this one seems to cover up more the redness around my eyes.  It wears nicely and works well with powder. It is thinner than the Colourpop concealer, but blends well. I would recommend it.

Here is a swatch. I am also wearing the concealer in the picture of my eye above.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the products I picked up today, and look forward to using them more!

Thanks for reading :) 

Beauty Bookmarks #5: A Brave New Year?

Welcome back to my channel!

Hehe....

Okay, so this blog post was recently inspired by the small collection of releases I bookmarked, today actually. Also as of today I am on a no-buy of eyeshadow, blush, and highlighter, so that will probably affect my responses to some of these products.

Let's start with the most "exciting"announcement: the Naked Reloaded palette. I got the image from Trendmood, which was also posted from another, private, account.

First thoughts: It's like a mash-up of the Naked Three, the Naked 2, and ABH Sultry. And maybe the Huda New Nudes palette.

Second thought: In general, the organization and spectrum of the Naked palettes confuse me. There's a reason people find them repetitive- they have a glut of the same colors and tones.

But how does it compare to its predecessor, color scheme wise?

Less repetitive than the first one, but definitely in the same family of a lot of palettes that have released this year. To me, if a line is "iconic" it would be ahead of the trends, but Urban Decay is......decaying? It's an easy pass.

Now onto stuff I am genuinely interested in!

Pictured above is a brand new duo from Natasha Denona. I am obsessed with pink highlighters. Unfortunately, the pink is not the only color in this duo. There is also this light golden shimmer. There have been a couple of pink-toned things from ND that I have been tempted by. However, I do have Lilac Geode from Becca, and some pink-toned drugstore highlighters. So I know I don't need to buy this. But I think this is a line ND should keep expanding.

Next, a new collection from Wet 'n Wild that does not yet have the best photos for me to share. However, it appears to be a gym-related/work-out related line, with mattefying (sp?) products. Now, elf did this about a year ago with their Active Line. Tarte also had a gym-related hygiene line. I think the concept of a gym/working out makeup is very silly, to be honest. I like the idea of long-wearing makeup, but to expect consumers to care about their appearance when working on their fitness is a bit much. And if the argument that it is makeup ideal for after working out, after one has taken a shower, than what is the point anymore?

I don't know. I know Wet 'n Wild has been doing a lot of fantasy, mystical, collections lately. This one seems a little cheesy. But, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to pick up at least one thing.

Speaking of drugstore products, we have a release from Milani:

In addition to powders, they will be selling liquid highlighters. Now, the rectangle pan product that seems to contain bronzer, blush, and highlighter, is not necessarily new for the brand. They've had something like that in circle compacts, but I think those were less shimmery.

As for the bronzers, though I am still working on a PF Butter Bronzer, I will definitely be interested in swatches of these. Lately, Milani has been killing their powder products. I just wish they'd update the formula on Coral Cove, so it wasn't so powdery....

Next, I have a palette that just released, but I have not yet seen any bigger channels or blogs review this. It is the Berries & Cream palette by Dominique Cosmetics:

I love the composition of this palette. I can't wait to see what people do with it. But because I have the Good Sport palette from CP, as well as the Zodiac Palette from BH Cosmetics, I really feel like I don't need this one.

Lastly one is I am just confused about. At the end of September it was announced that Nikkietutorials and Maybelline released a shade, 250, of their Master Chrome highlighter. It is supposed to look like this:

Now, I personally was excited by this highlighter because I thought it would work well on my skin tone. But when I went in store to Ulta I could not find it. And reviews on this seem sparse. And is there a reason the product does not actually have a name? Maybelline, in my humble opinion, is making a huge mistake by making this an Ulta exclusive. And now I don't want to buy it anymore. *shrug*

So that's it! Thoughts on any of these?

Clionadh Cosmetics Maize and Toasted: Review and Swatches

Hello hello! I purchased four Clionadh Cosmetics matte shadows over the Black Friday weekend, and three weeks later they were finally in my possession! I am going to discuss two today, as they were part of the same collection, and the other two in a different post.

First is Maize, a bright true matte yellow. The powder was very soft, and I found this showed up really well on my skin, but also quite easy to build and blend. The only thing I dislike about this shadow is the amount of kick-up it produced, even as I used a light hand.  I know blending blushes tend to kick up a lot of powder, but since this shadow is best as one in the crease, I don't know what other brushes to use instead.

I used Maize quite a bit since then, with some warm-toned lewks.

Also part of the Harvest Collection is Toasted, a warm midtoned matte brown. This one is very rich in color, but not as easy to blend for me as Maize. It is a little bit of a superfluous shade in my collection, but I like how much more red-toned it is than the other warm midtoned browns I have.

The swatches below are all the shadows I used in one of my looks. From top to bottom, we have Clionadh Toasted, Looxi's Pumpkin Spice Life, Vanessa's Vanity Tangy Dijon, and Clionadh Maize.

I also want to issue warning for the lewks below that were really just me messing around. Unfortunately the first one looks like I lost a fight with fire:

Maize looks great here, though, and blended really well with Coastal Scent's Baked Clay and ABH Red Ochre. 

The next look I liked a bit better. I used Maize in the same way. I tried to do a halo eye. The BH Cosmsetics Take Me Back to Brazil Chartreuse and Looxi Green Apple is blended in, and ABH Primavera in the center. 

So that's it! I know Clionadh is really well known for its shimmers, but I tend to be more picky with shimmers than mattes, because I feel like I have less ways to use them compared to mattes. And I have way too many highlighters. Overall I like what I purchased, and I did not mind the price point, and I think the colors are unique. Not entirely 100% on the formula, though.

Thanks for reading!

Lipstick Queen Frog Prince Blush Review

There are so many ways I want to start this review. One option is amazement at how TJ Maxx can be such a cool source of makeup- albeit makeup that is "off season." Though I've come away with a few duds, there are some staples in my collection that come from there.

Another thing I want to say is how much I love fairy tale-themed makeup. Mostly because I love Fairy Tales, in all their forms. One of my earliest experiences learning about the Frog Prince was the Shelley Duvall The Fairy Tale Theatre episode with Robin Williams. We watched it in elementary school and I remember being scandalized at the half-naked Robin Williams prince after he transformed.

My favorite Fairy Tale Theatre episode, by the way (and I have not yet seen them all) is the Princess and the Pea with Liza Minelli. That one speaks to me.

Moving on, I've always been quite put off by Lipstick Queen because the high price tag, and because one can commonly find their products at discount stores, like TJ Maxx. It seems to me they need to find a way to make their products $5-$10 cheaper, in my humble opinion, if they want to gain more traction and attention.

That being said, I love this blush.

I have combination skin, and both powder and cream formulas have disappeared on me by the end of a (long) work day. But Frog Prince didn't.

Frog Prince is quite the loyal, hardworking blush and I can easily see myself using up the entire pan. One thing I will say is that it applies best with a synthetic blush brush. What made this blush hard to swatch was because it stuck to my finger tips and would not transfer to my hand very well.

Normally I absolutely loath swatches on finger tips (not real swatches), but in this case that is the truest representation of what the product looks like, without showing you my glorious face.

Onto the pictures!

Though the pink looks rather faint on my hand, it's because transferring from my finger to my skin was difficult. Best application is with a brush- it blends out on the skin easily, and builds up nicely. The finished product is natural and incredibly long lasting.

This is a charming blush and I highly recommend it if you find it at TJ Maxx or any other discount store.

Thanks for reading!
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Post Autumn Royale: EoTD

Hi everyone! Today I have a review of the products that I wore on my face today. I have pictures from the beginning of the day an hour or so after initial application, as well as at the end of the day, after about six or seven hours. 

Right off the bat, I was dealing with a swollen and runny eye, so I was a little afraid of doing anything too elaborate. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Normally, when my eyes are giving me issues I stick to a simple matte look, but I wasn't in the mood for mattes today. As I was doing my makeup, I was watching a video with Nisipisa, who was doing a really pretty pink-toned look, with shimmer. 

So I was inspired. I used two palettes: The Norvina Palette and the Good Sport Palette. These complement each other nicely because Norvina skews a little more cold and GS much warmer, so even though you'll see I was using mostly warm neutrals and golds, there was something a bit elaborate or decadent (in my humble opinion) about the eyelook. 

So, what did I do?  After priming my eyes, I set my brow  and crease with the shade Base from the Norvina palette, and then I used the shade trooper from The Good Sport pallete. Trooper is a lovely golden yellow matte that makes a perfect transition shade.  It blends very easily. After setting down Trooper, I blended in Eccentric from the Norvina palette. Eccentric is a yellow-toned caramel matte brown. I also set that down on my lid and blended it into the crease. 

Then, I took the shade Wild Out from The Good Sport palette, which is a lovely toasted golden shimmer, and put that on the inner part of my lid. On the center of my lid, I blended in Dazzling, a red-toned brown shimmer, to deepen the shimmer on my lid.  I took the shade Passion from the Norvina palette, a  red toned dark shade, and blended that carefully on the outer corner. Finally, I took the shade Licious from the GS palette, which is a very vibrant golden-yellow shimmer, and popped that on the inner corner. 

Though I was concerned about my eyes today, they held up pretty well, and I ended up really liking the look. I think I liked it so much because of how I paired the inner corner shimmer with the transition shade. I think I'm going to try to do this a lot where I match those colors. It made the look cohesive and fun. 

The only other notable product I used today is the blush, a new purchase from T.J. Maxx, the Lipstick Queen blush Frog Price, which I purchased for $6.00. I knew it was a creme blush that was green in the pan, but on my face it created a natural rosy flush that lasted the entire day. I never had a blush do that before, so I am quite impressed with it and can easily see how I will use that entire product up. 

So that is it for today- thanks so much for reading!

Teeny Flower Eye Art

Last night for some reason I remembered how flower graphic eye art was a thing for a while. Though that trend calmed down, I thought it was a reasonably easy and pretty thing for me to practice.

The only thing I was missing was a paint palette/colorful liquid liners. As I somewhat expected, the Wet 'n Wild paint palettes were on sale at Walmart, and I bought the Brights one for a dollar. Woo! I set most of my products with the BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil palette, except for the white, which I used the Nyx Milk crayon.

Here are my results:

So I primed my eye with Mac paint pot in Painterely. I set my brown bone and crease with neutral shades from the Maybelline Lemonade palette.

I then lined my eyes with the L'Oreal Paradise Liquid liner. I then made my wing green by placing the green shade from the Wet 'n Wild paint palette, and then dark green to light green eyeshadow on top to set it.

I then made the flowers, beginning with the red. This was a bit time consuming, and I had to use a very steady hand. I did not  do anymore than I had to because I was afraid of ruining it.

What cinches it and makes the flowers look like flowers is the orange/yellow in the center, as well as the dashes of light green for leaves.

Overall, I would definitely do this look again. I probably won't try to make the end of my wing green, and instead just make a solid black wing for greater contrast. 

The biggest thing was selecting the right brushes, which had to be small enough to such small details. And of course...lots of practice:

Thanks for reading!  

(❦ ᴗ ❦ ✿)

Beauty Bookmark 4: Chartreuse is the New...Blue? (text post)

It's has been a while, hasn't it? I caught myself a nice little cold this past week, and spent the weekend recovering from it. I've sort of been out of the makeup/beauty sphere for as long as I've been in this funk, so naturally I missed a couple of things.

I hope you don't mind that I am opting to not include any pictures of these releases. Most of my bookmarks come from the Trendmood account, but to keep reposting pictures seems redundant. It's also time consuming and I am a very lazy person.

The last beauty purchase I made was actually one of those magnetic sewing containers, which I am going to repurpose as a z-palette. Other than that, I have not added anything to my collection. But after browsing Instagram, I have bookmarked some things. Lessgo.

1. Ace Beaute's Flair palette ($39.00). I anti-hauled this brand in the past because- as much as I liked their release- I was not convinced of the value. They just put out this new palette that contains a chartreuse, as well as rich blues, oranges, reds, and berries. Now, I am strongly tempted to make a dupe post on this, but the only thing I would not be able to dupe are the three blue shadows, because I don't own any. And if you take those away, you are left with an expanded version of their Classical Paradise palette. With that in mind, I know I personally won't be getting this, though I can honestly say the palette looks beautiful, and it's definitely inspiring.

2. Wet 'n Wild's Four New Dupe Palettes. Allegedly, these are dupes for Prism, Soft Glam, Lila (ND), and the Tropical palette (ND). To be honest, I have tried this formula and the shimmers are nothing compared to the older, softer formula. They're not bad, though, and I do think it's great that they are bringing fun color options to the drugstore. Keep on keeping on, Wet 'n Wild.

3. I also bookmarked the new The Tribe palette from Juvia's place. Another bright light green! This seems to be a color we are going to see a lot, which I think is interesting. For me, this type of color seems like either a lid or a transition color, like yellow. I have my own version of it from the BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil palette, and I have a couple of greens, browns, golds, and oranges, so this palette would be a bit redundant.

However, another interesting thing Juvia's Place is doing is making mini palettes. Now that I find to be quite, quite promising. I remember saying a while back how I wished their palettes were smaller. Hmmmmm.....looks like I was not the only one. The downside is they seem to be downsizing the palettes in order of their releases, so they're starting with the first palette they introduced, The Nubian, a super neutral palette. Like, super, super neutral. So while I love the idea of mini palettes, I know I will have to wait until Juvia's releases a more colorful one. I just hope they don't do what Natasha Denona sometimes does with their mini versions, which is to take all the interesting shades out and make a repetitive little shrug of a palette (like their mini Star palette.) Fingers crossed.

4. Physician's Formula has two or three new palettes coming out that are part of the Butter line. They seem to have a nice balance of neutral and color, but I will be skipping only because I don't know what the formula is like (of the butter ones) and I don't need any of the colors.

5. Christmas palettes- ones that feature green and red. So far, Give Me Glow, Linda Hallberg, and Pat McGrath Labs all have these types, but as festive as they are, I would be the type of person to enjoy them during the holiday, and then move on to something else when the festivities are over. The nice thing about the Give Me Glow Christmas Morning Palette is that you can take the shadows out, and replace them as needed, which is useful. I am also obsessed with silver for some reason, and need it on my eyelids, so if Give Me Glow can sell Santa's Sleigh as a single I would be much obliged.

6. Finally, we'll end with a very general overview of whatever the hell Colourpop is doing. Their release reminds me of the Fairy Oddparents episode where Timmy accidentally released all the Anti-Fairies into the world. Yes, Colourpop's swarm of supershock shadows are, in my mind, anti-fairies. I have no doubt that the colors and quality are good- I've read plenty of reviews. But when a release is so numerous and massive, I have no recourse but to just ignore it. I'm the type of person to just buy something when I am looking for something specific, so if CP has that, then fine. But they don't now. Is there is a reason why Colourpop is not selling a silver pressed shadow? We need to talk, CP. Don't be an anti-fairy.

Okay, I did not mean for this post to be so rambly. There is plenty I missed, like a Pizza Palette, but honestly if I don't see the potential in it, I am not going to post about it.

P.S. If I do get gift money for Christmas this year, a small little part of me is debating whether I should get a Pat McGrath palette. I know that would be super ridiculous. I know. But still....

Okay, now I'm going. Thanks for reading.

What I Wore on my Face Today

Today a couple of weird events unfolded. Rather than get into all of them, one of them I will comment on- my eyeshadow choices.

There was a choice, yes, but one I thought I'd only make when I am channeling old Hollywood glamour (imagine I rolled the rrrs here) - grey eyeshadow.

What I was going for was some kind of sultry look with minimal(ish) color and shadow.

So. I am not a huge fan of this picture because you don't see the front of my eyes and the blending going on there. Whatever. I went in with a light grey matte from a Covergirl Quad, and then I used Nabla Wild Child in the crease, outer corner, and the lid. I finally took a dark grey almost matte black from the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette in the outer corner.

I used to be afraid of grey shadow. But now I really like the idea of it, and how grey can look like a natural shadow on the face.

What else? The highlight is a mix. I first applied (with a light hand) Mac Snowflushed, and then over that I used Wet 'n Wild The Sweetest Bling, a pale cool-toned pink.

Would I do this look again? Yeah, I would! Though I love shimmers and different colors, there is something classic about a grey smokey situation that I would replicate.

To be "fun" though, I would pair the Nabla shadow with a Nabla highlighter. I have the shade Millennium-  technically an eyeshadow- but I would use it on my face. I think that would be neat.

Other than that, nothing of real importance to note. I am doing terribly with my shopping my lip stash challenge so far....

Thanks for reading!

What's In My Eyeshadow Z-Palettes?

Currently I have three z-palettes in my collection of different sizes. For a while I used my Coastal Scents 12-pan palette as my "weekly" palette, with the other two with no other specific purpose. I decided to change things up a bit, for my own ease of use. 

Let me show you what I ended up with!

My large z-palette ended up being my favorite, visually. It contains my neutral shimmer singles, as well as non-neutral mattes. 

From left to right (top to bottom), we have:

Stila Kitten, CR Crown, ABH Soft Gold, CP 20-Something

BH Cosmetics shimmers (x3), CR Your Majesty, CR Your Highness

ABH Amber, ABH Topaz

Looxi Pumpkin Spice Life, CR Ladyship, DoC Blueberry Swirl, CP Howlin'

Vanessa's Vanity Tangy Dijon, Mac Chrome Yellow, BH Cosmetics Neon Yellow Green, Looxi Green Apple, CP Team Captain

CS Tangelo Tint, CR Empress, CP Lay Low, CP Making Moves, CS Baked Clay

CS Oatmeal Tan, CR Royal Prerogative, CR Duchess, ABH Fudge, DoC Hot Fudge

Next, we have the Coastal Scents palette, which I decided to put my more "special" shadows, which are duochromes. From top to bottom and left to right, we have:

CP Prowlin', Looxi Charmed, Fyrinnae Serendipity

Ardency Inn Rose Gold, CP Glass Bull, Looxi Bohemian

Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions, Looxi Bouhee, CP Chauffeur

Looxi Dollface, Looxi Tesla, Looxi Mirage

Last is my palette of "essential" neutral/crease/transition shades, aka "my boring palette." These are shades that I would pair with the ones in my other palettes.  A good chunk of this palette is comprised of the mattes from the Zodiac palette from BH Cosmetics. The mattes are excellent, but I was not a fan of the packaging- it really was cumbersome to use, especially in the morning.

So, anyway, let's go ahead with me doing my best to break down the shades in this palette:

The large gray pan is Nabla Wild Child, a great way to shadow the eyes. As I mentioned before, the longer, thinner rectangular pans are the BH mattes. The pink square pan is an Inglot matte. 

Then, we have CS Pumpkin Pie, CR Princess, DoC Cone

CP Hear Me Out, Looxi Durty, CR Heir

Wet 'n Wild Brulee, DoC Berries 'n Cream, and CR Angel Face

Thoughts:

I do like the choices I have given myself here, and that I feel like there is greater thought to the placement of all the pressed single shadows (63) I have. 

How does this compare to your own organization style? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!