The more I do this, the more I realize that I am perfectly capable of creating nicely executed looks on the spot. This may sound a bit braggadocious, but I enjoyed today's look a lot more than yesterday's. Let me show you the pics of my eyes after a full day of work:
blurred to show shine
a teensy bit of creasing with the cream color shade- without flash it was not noticeable
So overall this was a clean little look. I used a couple of products, and in the same order:
1.) Wet 'n Wild Eyeshadow Primer
2.) Mac Painterly Paint Pot
3.) Carli Bybel Palette Cream Shadow (browbone and crease)
3.) Ardency Inn Rose Gold Single on lid
4.) Carli Bybel Palette light mauve matte blended into the crease
5.) Shiro Cosmetics Fleeced Line Pillow Fort in the inner corner
Face powder wise, my highlighter was a light-handed Hustle and Glow from ittse.
Today's eye look was comprised of five eyeshadows.
1. base- cream-color shadow⯀
2. crease- Angel Face by Coloured Raine ⯀
3. crease/lid- Lay Low by ColourPop ⯀
4. lid; 20-Something by Colourpop- Light golden shimmer
5. inner corner- Crown by Coloured Raine- white-golden shimmer w//hint of pink
Notes- this was a really simple look that I wish I had spent more time building up/adding dimension to it. It was pretty, but a little boring for my liking. Oh well. At least my freckles look kind of cool.
On my face, which I need to start remembering to take pics of, I used:
-Precious Petals- blush/highlight. This is a little dark on me as a highlighter so I placed it where I would blush. The effect was okay.
-Vanessa's Vanity Sparkler in 6pm- I layered this on top of Precious Petals, and I am not usually so emotional about highlighter but it was BRIGHT. I had to tone it down with Mac Fix +.
-Usual blush combo of MuG Puppy Love + Pixi Beach Rose
Lips: I have really been liking Stila's lip balm in Grayson. It's a tad pricey for a lip balm, but it does keep my lips moisturized while adding a tint of grey to them.
So, that's it for now. I have no idea what look I am going to do tomorrow, but whatever it is I hope it is a bit more impactful than today.
The internet is awash in....I don't know actually...about Lime Crime's newest release, the Venus 3. Let me be clear, I established long ago that I don't support this brand. So, I thought because it is a rather pretty palette, why not anti-haul the beans out of it? Note- it will cost $38 @ 2 g each.
Let's go.
When I first saw this palette, I thought to myself, Coloured Raine must be maaaad. Why? Take a look at their Berry Cute palette ($36/1.5 g each)
The same!! It's the saaaame. But the Berry Cute formula I heard was not great, except for the shimmers. Something about that purple and red.
Let's get back to Venus. If you put your finger over the red and purple, you get a very monochromatic palette. Sure, there are different finishes, but to me it appears very grey. I myself would not get much variety out of that look.
In my own stash, I have the Modern Renaissance for dark reds and pinks. But Buon Fresco is also a cooler tone that jives with the Venus 3. I also have the BH Cosmetic Zodiac Palette:
I've marked all the places where I see parallels.
Finally, the Queen of Hearts palette:
So, for me, though I would not be buying this palette anyway, I am actually quite convinced that I really don't need it. I don't feel like the formula will be that interesting, given the shimmers on the Polly Pockets were not liked by many.
I also think this palette bears a striking resemblance to the coolness of the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette, but even a teensy bit the PB & J Palette ( a bit of a stretch, I know)
Would I get a single inspired by this palette?
Not really. I have tried my share of purple frosts from the BH Cosmetics Foils eyes palette, and have learned it is not for me. The colors that do pique my interest I am confident I already have.
Update: we have swatches! They look quite bad. I mean to the point where the promotional imagery looks far more saturated than what is going on the arms..
For fun, I have a video on my favorite purple products:
I know I have been promising another long-form anti-haul for a while. But the thing is, the releases have become so crazy and constant that I actually don't care anymore. I'm at a really good place with my collection, though it could definitely be smaller, but overall I am not really feeling the pressure to make any purchases. For me, it has been really easy to avoid the lure of these releases.
So, anyway, I have one empty to talk about- my second bottle of the Simple micellar water. I've really liked it, but I am not going to repurchase another just yet. I've got a lot of cleansing creams I want to get through first.
I have a long overdue declutter of five items:
Almay Liquid eyeliner- absolutely no staying power.
Revlon bronzer in Desert Bronze. I will never trust Revlon with face powder again. They have a terrible track record for me.
Nyx All Over Balm- For a balm, it's ingredients are not stellar, and the coconut scent is very faint. I used about half, and have no use for it.
Seraphine Botanicals Guava Butter Lip and Cheek Tint- I've had this past its expiry, and in that time have never used it. It's gone.
Last week I felt I was making a lot of good decisions regarding my makeup. Tomorrow my challenge will be to incorporate a highlighter I barely use, maybe with a matte eye. The highlighter I have in mind is Wet 'n Wild's Mermaid one.
As you can probably tell from past posts, I have a few strained relationship with Ipsy. It is well-documented by now. However, I have to admit that this was a a pretty good bag, all in all. The estimated retail value of the items in my particular bag is $50.34. Here is my breakdown:
Meech and Mia copper- $11.50
Ciate London Star Struck Eyeliner- ? smaller than regular liner, which is priced at 19. .05 oz/19 $15.20
Biorace 1 oz Pore Tightening Pearl Clay Mask 3.88 oz/ 25 = $6.44
Firma Beauty Angled Blender Brush $13.00
Skin and Co Roma Truffle Therapy Cleansing Cream 1 oz
8.4 oz/ $35 = $4.20 for 1 oz
$50.34 total. Let's go item by item.
1.) The Firma 202 brush. It is an angled shader brush, that appears to be duo-fiber. It is very soft but also very dense. I tried using it in my crease today, but I cannot use it the same as a fluffy brush. I will find other uses for it, though. It has a nice weight, and is a well-made brush.
2.) The Skin and Co Whipped Cleansing Cream. This smells very sweet. The only other cleansing cream I have was very soapy and irritated my eyes. This did not do that. It is a very rich formula, and even though it's creamy, you can also feel it exfoliate, gently. It removed most of my makeup, except for the inner corner of my eye right underneath my browbone, but I didn't apply product there for fear of getting it into my eyes. I really like this product and will happily use it again. The full size is a little too pricey for me, so I would not repurchase, though.
3.) Bioarace Mask. It is a lot of product, and it smells very herbal. The packaging states to only use it 1-2 times per week. I've used it two times, and haven't found any huge difference between it and my other masks.
4.) Meech and Mia Copper Eyeshadow. Really stunning, intense color. Next time I won't even use it with Pixie Epoxy, to tone it down a smidge. I like it a lot.
5.) Ciate Eyeliner + Star Stamp. I am never going to use the star stamp. The liner is alright. It has not replaced my all-time drugstore fave, though.
All in all, I didn't get any of those pesky filler brands. My last month will be June, if I think the previews are interesting. Overall, I think this was a really nice bag. I especially like all the skin care.
