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.