Does the Modern Renaissance expire?

We're going to talk about the Modern Renaissance, I palette that I bought in August 2016. So, two years ago to the day. As you may or may not know, the palette has a shelf life of 6 months. After which, the quality of the shadows may be affected. This short shelf-life is due to the ingredients.

Now, I can't speak for everyone's experience. But I can show you swatches of the four colors that many claim have "turn bad," as a sign that the palette has "gone bad."

Before I do, I don't think fear-mongering is the right approach. If you sanitize your powder products, and they do not smell or affect your skin, they can last a good amount of time. In terms of the feel of these red-toned colors in particular, they have become grittier, but I find they perform pretty much the same.

Have they turned brown? No.

Here are the brush swatches.

Red Ochre, Venetian Red, Love Letter, Realgar

And the finger swatches:

Red Ochre, Venetian Red, Love Letter, Realgar

The colors are still pretty vibrant and distinct. In my opinion, Red Ochre and Venetian Red became more sheer than I remember, but if anything it makes it easier to work with.

To wrap up. Yes, makeup changes a bit the longer you have it. Just take care of it and use your own discretion.

Eyeshadow Files, pt. 1 : Modern Renaissance (Updated 12/29)

I am officially on a makeup no-buy until I begin work again in September. This is not too daunting for me, because I think I have too much makeup. As I do my makeup in the morning, I am now trying to use consciously reach for products that I haven't used in a while.

So I thought I would use this time to look at some of my eyeshadow palettes, and analyze shade by shade. What have I panned, are close to panning? What have I never touched, and why?

These really won't include swatches, but rather pictures of the palettes and anecdotes of my own experiences.

Today's palette comes at an opportune moment. The failure of Subculture has caused many to re-evaluate their experiences with its "golden" predecessor: the Modern Renaissance (MR). Now, I've had this palette for a year, and I do think it still is an excellent palette, though prone to fallout.

MR was the first high-end palette that I bought and really liked.

As of today, this is what my palette looks like:

As of today, December 29, 2017, this is what the palette looks like:

Panned Shades: 

Tempera. This is a really beautiful shade for me. It matches my skin tone and has fine, subtle shimmers in it. I was really hesitant about continuing to use it after hitting pan, but then I realized that is a ridiculous mindset to have.

Vermeer - Inner corner highlight. I used to use this all over the lid, until I started using darker shimmers for that. (panned as of 8/19)

Golden Ochre (panned sometime before 12/29). I mean, it is a teeny tiny baby pan. But it is a pan. I find this shade muddies up on me, but I will give it more of a go, and avoid that area of my eye where I see this muddying up. My original note for this color was, "Good for the crease and blending with the orange." 

Heavily Used Shades:

Burnt Orange- Adds subtle color

Buon Fresco- Same as above

Warm Taupe- The lighter mattes mentioned in this section were used heavily when I first got this palette, but then I started to just use Warm Taupe in the crease. A great workhouse shade.

Cyprus Umber- Used for the outer courner.

Moderately Used Shades:

Raw Sienna: I always think I confuse this with Burnt Orange, but I end up using Burnt Orange more. This is a nice warm medium brown shade. I'd like to use it more, but I also have many mattes like this.

Primavera: This is not an exciting gold shimmer. It's pigmentation is medium, but it is a rather pale gold and I have more saturated golds in my stash. Still, I do use it in the inner corner, as well as on the lid sometimes. [Update] Infuriatingly, I've not hit pan. I don't get it. I do use it every chance I get and still have not hit pan. What gives??

Red Ochre: I've only started to really enjoy this shade and not be scared of it, and the other colors listed below. I've been blending it into the crease as well as a little on the outer corner, especially to complement a gold lid. [Update]  I have been using this a lot more, and feel that actually, when blended with other colors, it actually pulls somewhat brown-toned, which I do't mind. Same with Realgar, which I've been getting more use out of, as well as Venetian Red. 

Rarely Used Shades:

Antique Bronze: This shade frustrates me because the shimmer is VERY muted and glitter fiends may not be satisfied. I think this shade is great on the lid to create a brown smoky look. [Update] still not using this. 

Love Letter: This is the only shade I have not used in a look I enjoyed. I've barely touched it. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I need to try a bit more.

Level of Usability overall NOW: (on a rating from 1-impossible to use to 5- super easy). 4. I feel like I have not explored so many possible combinations, but I do feel like I have gotten over a fear of the reds and oranges. The pink, however....

Course of Action:

1. Pair more muted mattes with some of the more intense ones.

2. Attempt to use pink and see how it goes. 

3. See what antique bronze looks like in the crease. 

4. Bring in other shimmers to expand possibilities of palette. 

EoTD: Orange and Purple

Today is one of those days when I add to my eye makeup a little over time. When I woke up, I first just put Kitten by Stila all over my eye, as well as Shiro's Fleece-Lined Pillow Fort in my inner corner.  Later, I decided I wanted some color, so I took the Milani Earthly Elements palette (which I technically destashed but it was laying around) and added the brown and orange to my crease and outer corner.

After a while, I took the Queen of Hearts palette and the shade Ladyship, and added that to my look.

This was the final result:

Overall, I think it's a pretty simple look.  Ladyship was regarded as the only negative part of the Queen of Hearts palette, because it swatches terribly, but I don't see any problem with how it works on the eye. Here I blended out with it, as well as packed it over the shade Kitten. 

I'm becoming more interested in color, specifically warm-tones. I've been really loving orange eyeshadow. I have cool-toned skin, so I find that orange really does complement my coloring. 

Currently, I have three orange eyeshadows in my collection, and I have them swatched below for comparison. From left to right, we have the orange from the Milani Earthly Elements palette, Empress from the Queen of Hearts palette, and Realgar from Modern Renaissance. Realgar is pretty dark, and I can even get away with using it as an outer corner shade. 

The Milani shade is the east pigmented, but I still enjoy using it. I wonder if I can depot it from the entire palette.....That will be another story, I guess. 

Anyway, thanks for reading!

EoTD: Modern Renaissance and Coastal Scents!

Hello hello!

Today I've continued by never-ceasing love of warm eyeshadows with a mostly-matte look. As I've noted before, I feel I've really narrowed down my eyeshadow preferences and have gotten a bit more capable.

Today I used Modern Renaissance, as well as the shade Pumpkin Pie from Coastal Scents. Pumpkin Pie was an instant favorite for me, because it is a bit darker compared to Angel Face from Coloured Raine, and so perfect to use as a transition, for a nice orange glow on the eyes.

Below I've swatched Angel Face (l) and Pumpkin Pie (r) for reference:

Coastal Scents is more known for their shimmers, but they do have some really excellent mattes, such as Pumpkin Pie. Before purchasing from Coastal Scents, I would do some research about which ones perform better than others.

And so here is the eyelook:

So this was my look by the end of the day, after about 10 hours.  We had Pumpkin Pie in the crease, Burnt Orange from MR on the lid and blended into the crease, and the outer corner I used Red Ochre. The only dud for me is Primavera, which I used in the inner corner. It did hold up, but applies patchy and is just an all-around annoying shimmer.

The eye primer I used was Wet 'n Wild, and I've already bought a back-up of it. Eyeliner was the usual Physician's Formula, and mascara was Essence Lash Princess in False Lash Effect. I don't seem to enjoy this as much as I did when I first opened it. Is that normal?

Anyway, I am pleased with the progress I am making on the Modern Renaissance, and I am also very pleased with Pumpkin Pie. After thinking about buying it for so long, I think it was a smart purchase.

Which makes me think of all the other Holy Grails in my collection- they were all things that I feel I did not get out impulse, which makes all the difference.

Thanks for reading!

Subculture Inspired EoTD (w/ lots of pictures of my eye)

Good morning! November already....I am floored by how fast this year is going.

Today's eye look was inspired by one of my favorite youtubers- Makeupstruggles- who just put out a video last night on affordable palettes and whether or not they were worth it.

She mentioned the Maybelline palette collab w/ Shayla- and said that she found it too expensive for what it was, but it was a fine drugstore palette.

 I agree, but I do want to feel like I am getting my money's worth in some way. I actually like the cool yellow shimmer in the palette- it works for me, I feel, as well as the two mattes.

So today I decided to incorporate this palette into my look, as well as other eyeshadow singles and palettes because why not.

Let's go over the look! Pictures ahead. And of course, be forewarned that my camera quality is not great.

We'll begin with the different eyeshadow products I used:

From Shayla's Citi Mini Palette, I used the top cream matte shade, as well as the bronze shimmer, and the yellow gold  shimmer/glitter. 

From the Indie brand Vanessa's Vanity, I used the shade Tangy Dijon. Because of this shade, I feel like the entire Subculture and Yes, Please palette is irrelevant to me. It is a beautiful mustard yellow. 

From the Modern Renaissance palette, Warm Taupe in the crease. I have such a deep dip into this, but I am not entirely sure if I panned it or not. I want to use it up and my goal is to have five pans in the Modern Renaissance by the end of the month. I already have three. Though this shade is called "Warm Taupe," it is one of the cooler-lighter toned browns/taupes that I own. 

                                  

Finally, depotted from my Floriculture Palette  by Tarina Tarantino palette, Deep Dahlia. The picture shows shimmer, but this more of a satin/matte shade, comparable to Rowdy from the Subculture Palette.

All of these combined to make the following color palette:

To make the the following looks:

 I used the cream shade in the Shayla palette over my brow bone and crease, and then put Warm Taupe in my crease. On the lid, I placed the darker coppery shimmer from the Shayla palette, and then the gold glittery shade on top of that. I then blended the yellow shade out slightly above the crease ( I could have done this before adding Warm Taupe, but it occurred to me to use the yellow a little later). To make the look more complex, I placed Deep Dahlia in the outer corner.

At the time, I was not trying to create a look that could also be made by the Subculture palette, but here we are. I definitely think this is a cool look that I don't normally do, but would want to replicate again!

Golden Modern Renaissance EoTD (w/ pictures!)

Today I liked my eye look a lot, so much so that I actually tried to take decent pictures. The look today involved some old and new favorites, so I'll talk about all of that now!

Here is the look:

I used the Wet n Wild eyeshadow primer all over my eye, and then Tempera from the MR palette to set it. I have nearly entirely panned all of Tempera.

In the crease I have a mix of Raw Sienna (mostly) and Burnt Orange. They are very close in terms of color, but for some reason I favor Burnt Orange. As a way to use up more of Raw Sienna, I've just been more conscious of incorporating it into eye looks.

Realgar and Red Ochre are on the outer corner and blended into the crease. 

I then took Too Faced Glitter Insurance on the lid and packed on top a gold shade depotted from the BH Cosmetics 28 Foil shadows. 

In the inner corner, and along the bottom lash line, I used Primavera, the gold shimmer from MR.

After putting on my makeup, I headed over to Target and made an impulse purchase- the L'Oreal Metallic Eyeshadow Singles. I don't have an official review yet, but I did buy Rose Chrome and just put it over the gold shade on my eye. I really liked the effect of it all, and these are pictures of my eyes at the end of the day, after about 10 hours. 

I am trying very hard to pan Primavera, and have't gotten there yet. I like, though, this idea of shimmer on my bottom lid- I can't use liner or color because that just closes my eyes up, so gold shimmer had a nice effect.

Additionally, I still stand by MR, and still feel that for me this is a palette that inspires creativity and makes great eye looks. My phone kind of washes out my eyes, so it's hard to tell from the pictures alone, but I just feel like I have to work less hard at creating something pretty with the Modern Renaissance.

Finally, the newest addition to my single eyeshadow collection:

After I took my eye makeup off, I put this on the lid to see what it would look like. Not only is it long-lasting, it is perfect when I want some shimmer and subtle color on my eye, without feeling like there is nothing there. I do have "wash of shimmer/color" shadows, and I don't like using them. Rose Chrome does sort of blend into my skin-tone, but it still feels pigmented. I feel like this is a good purchase, especially for work. I also love the design of the pan. 

Over all, it probably seems like I have a very limited range when it comes to eye looks that I like- and I do. My favorites so far have always incorporated gold and browns and oranges- though I do like cool tones once in a while. 

Thanks for reading! 

Birthday Post: Game Changers

Today I am feeling extra retrospective. It is my 26th, after all. I would say it has been almost two years since I have gotten into makeup, so today I want to discuss the makeup milestones- or game-changers, as it were.

For me, game-changers are both positive and negative. They have helped me develop insight into technique, aesthetics, and spending. Please read below for my TOP FIVE GAME-CHANGING PRODUCTS. And here's to birthdays.

1. The Modern Renaissance Palette.

Okay, okay. On the off-chance anyone is actually reading this, you've probably heard of this palette. And all of the glowing reviews. And the hype. I will be honest, is this palette perfect? No, of course not. But it is smart. It is excellent. My last higher-end palette was the Nude 'Tude Palette from TheBalm, which was boring and uninspiring. And the MR palette brought to my attention the concept of "neutral" colors, and using brights subtly. As of now, I have panned Tempera, the cream-colored shade, and I tend to cycle through different mattes, based on my mood. I have purchased single matte dupes from indie and drugstore brands in anticipation of the palette running out. I love it.

2. Kat Von D Innerstellar and Chrysalis Palette. These palettes taught me to calm the eff down when it comes to purchases. I have decluttered both, after depotting the few matte shades that I loved. I hate KvD's shimmers in palettes- never have tried her singles. I got both half price at TJ Maxx's, because it was a high end brand for cheap. That is it. And ever since the laborious decluttering process (she certainly makes it difficult to de-pot), I have been able to resist products like Too Faced tin palettes, and Make Up Forever palettes, etc. etc. successfully.


3. Physician's Formula Eye Booster Serum Eye Liner thing- A game-changer because eyeliner always caused anxiety for me. Aside from very few pencil liners, most would leak by the end of the day, and application was always tricky. For me this has made my life so much easier, and I dread eyeliner less now.


4. Dry Shampoo. I am throwing this category of products in here, with no reference to a specific one. I have tried tons of different brands and the only one I hated was the Aussie brand dry shampoo because the smell was awful. My hair gets oily rather quickly, so rather than feel the pressure to wash my hair every day, I can spray some dry shampoo and go. Easy.


5.  Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. A few weeks ago, I read a post criticizing the vast amount of products it seemingly takes in this day and age to make eyeshadow work. The writer explained that before eyeshadow would be made so priming was not necessary. Do I believe this? Not really. I think technology has improved, and yes there are huge mark-ups in the makeup industry, but from what I remember emphasis on pigmentation and opacity is a relatively current trend. With this in mind, I am a big fan of Pixie Epoxy. I was critical, like many others, that one had to buy another product to make their products work, but then I saw that this could be used with everything. And really intensify shadows that do lack pigmentation. Another benefit is that eyeshadow used to transfer from my lid to my crease, due to the fact that my eyes bulge. With Pixie Epoxy, (as well as Too Faced Glitter Insurance, which I used if the shadow is opaque enough already), the shadow does not budge.

And here's an extra one!

6.) Brown-toned lipstick. I am inspired by a post I just read by Brutally Honest Beauty on brown lipstick. My mother used to love brown-toned lipstick in the 90's and early 00's, so I would use it. And for the last year, I've only been wearing brown toned lipstick: Sin-a-mon and Touchable Taupe, both from Maybelline's Color Sensational line. It is flattering, natural looking on me.

In sum:
My gamechangers are gamechangers because they make my life easier. And when it comes to makeup, it should not be stressful. It is just makeup, after all.

Modern Renaissance 2, Subculture: Will I Buy It? (updated)

So, that happened.

I am not sure how permanent the colors are, or what the final product will be, but boy do I have thoughts about this palette.

One of these thoughts is...maybe I don't want to buy it.

To me, this looks like a more mainstream version of Lime Crime's Venus 2 Palette. See below:

Now, are these two identical? No, of course not. But when it comes to the concept of an "inverted palette," the concepts and "color stories" are undeniably similar.

I'm not going to start giving my money to Lime Crime, but it does not make the "cooler nighttime sister" of Modern Renaissance any more disappointing. Especially because the first glimpse of the palette really doesn't live up to those claims- there are a lot of pastels.

Lastly, the two shimmers of the Modern Renaissance were a point of disappointment for me- too similar and not of enough color. Well, the two discernible shimmers here belong to that same champagne color family- again, boring. The original Modern Renaissance just worked. It captured a moment, it was undeniably innovative. Can't say the same for this one. 

Update: I found a clearer image of the palette:

I'm pretty confident that my thoughts were pretty much on the right track with this one. Pass.

Shiro Matte Eyeshadow, Review

My very first indie makeup purchase was Shiro cosmetics, earlier this year. I bought two matte sample jars, and one full size jar highlighter. We'll save the highlighter for another day. Let's talk about the two mattes. All swatches in photos on bare skin with no primer, and w/finger for ABH, brush for Shiro (as finger swatches with the loose formula are impossible.)

1.  There's No Such Thing as Magic. This one is mentioned a lot in recommendations, especially as a dupe for the Modern Renaissance palette's Buon Fresco. As the pictures will show, the Shiro shade is lighter, with particles of holographic glitter lightly scattered throughout. What I will note, though, is that when I use this shade in my crease with primer, it will darken on the skin. The formula seems to be...absorbent in some way? Buon Fresco has a more powdery formula that is much easier to blend. As I will mention below, the formula of this shade makes blending difficult, and involves tugging on the skin. Though this matte looks pretty, when I run out of Buon Fresco I'll probably just buy the ABH single, rather than try to use the Shiro shade up. ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2


2. Pietrisycamollaviadelrechiotemexity. As in, I have experienced the aforementioned word when thinking of what this possibly could reference. Seems like a waste of print. The shade itself, however, is a good crease shade for my skin tone, a peachy matte. This one does not experience the same color change on the skin as the first shade. Both have nearly identical formulas, except for carnuba wax, which "There's No Such.." contains.  Perhaps this accounts for the texture and performance difference. I don't use this particular shade up very much, but it is one of those easy ways to add warmth and color to an eye look. On my hand, I did want to compare it also with a shade from Modern Renaissance, so I've compared it to Burnt Orange, on the right. While this shade is more muted compared to Burnt Orange, sometimes that can be a good thing. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

w/ flash, Shiro mattes are the inner two shades, ABH is outer two

Blurred to show sparkles on Shiro swatch. Note the slight difference in color around the edges.