A product I am excited about: Galaxy Chick Palette

Good morning everyone!

So I've been eyeing this palette from BH Cosmetics because it is SO FRIGGIN COOL. I'm actually a huge fan of astronomy and my SO and I plan to try and snap some pictures of the night sky when we see each other next, so this came into my cross hairs at exactly the right time.

Well... Except it is out of stock until the 7th of March. Womp womp. My dad gave me some money for my birthday, however, so I think I will try and pick it up then. I've seen some good reviews online, and it's super pretty! 

Have you heard of this product? What are your thoughts? Let me know!

Stila Countless Color Pigments Review

Good morning everyone!

I hope all of you had a good week last week (I say this as I am writing on the 10th). Of course, right before my no buy month, something I had had my eye on for a good while went on sale, and that was the Tie Dye Countless Color Pigments eyeshadow from Stila (that's the one in the blue container, if you're wondering). All of a sudden it was all sold out on Sephora, and I was sad and thought I had missed my chance, since on Sephora they were marked as limited edition. Well, I was able to find my Tie Dye shadow on the Stila website, and for $8 instead of $22! (wooooo!) Because it was such a good deal, I also snagged one in Melody as well. 

I had read some reviews that said these weren't very pigmented, and after a few uses I've found that I don't have this problem (to be fair, I always use Nyx's jumbo eye crayon in Milk under all my shadows). I love these colors quite a lot, and they definitely pop for me.

My only complaint is that when I used Melody last, I had a hard time completely cleaning it off my eye (but didn't have a problem on the 9th, when I took the picture above). 

As a side note, I tried a new way of curling my hair overnight, and am pleased with the results. Maybe I'll do a blog post about that sometime soon as well!

Have you tried these shadows out? Did you find them to be pigmented enough? Let me know!

Cheers!

Sonia Kashuk Shimmering Sands & Showstoppers Review

Good morning everyone!

As some of you may know, it was my birthday on the 25th. While I didn't end up going out, I did break out these two quads to do some makeup. I also managed to forget to snag a picture of myself (I know, boo on me). Anyway, I thought I would review these eyeshadows and let you know what I think.

Firstly, I had to apply all of these with a wet brush. I mainly used the lightest brown/tan in the upper quad and a mix of the light colors on the lower quad (and used the black up top for an eyeliner). I tried with a dry brush, and the glitter didn't apply evenly and basically none of the color transferred. 

There was some problem of fallout, I found (even though I used a primer and pat the color on) and it was really hard to manipulate, blend, and control once on the eyelid. 

But worst of all... Clean up was a mess. Usually with my towelettes I can get everything off my eyelid, but for the life of me I couldn't get all this glitter off. :/ And that was honestly a big let down for me.

While I think these colors are pretty, I think there's also a reason these have been sitting in my makeup box for so long with such little use. Showstoppers got mixed reviews on Makeup Alley, and I have to agree with the people that didn't like this quad a whole lot. To be fair, I did get these a bit ago, so maybe in the newer renditions (with black packaging) they've changed the formula? I'm not sure.

But as it stands this isn't something I'd recommend and something I'll only try again in the future if I'm daring.

Do you own either of these quads? What's your opinion? Let me know!

Cheers!

Model Behavior

Good evening everyone!

When I ordered my Revealed palette from Coastal Scents they also sent me a sample of this pretty quad of shadows called Model Behavior (unfortunately a quick search on their site yields no results, but I do rather like these colors). I thought I would try them out today, along with my favorite lipstick, MAC's Twig. 

I did "Reef Sand" in the inner corners of my eyes, "Petal Peach" for the lighter color on my lid and "Deep Cider" as the darker color and my crease. Overall, I'm very happy with this pigments and I love the way they look! I also attempted a winged eyeliner look, but since I mostly do makeup by feel it was fairly hard to accomplish, sadly. Oh well. 

Ps - I hate the effect my glasses have in pictures... Oh well. I think I look silly without them!

Do you have these shades? How do you wear them? Let me know!

Cheers!

88 Original Palette

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I thought I would share a bit about the biggest palette I own, and the one that really got me "in" to makeup again after a long hiatus. I bought it last year sometime before I really knew about the Coastal Scents website, and in fact got it as a deal from somewhere else. The most used color for me is the brown I use to help fill in and perfect my brows, but I've started to expand into some other colors lately, and it's a great feeling to finally be using up this palette!

Right now it's on sale for $11.95, and while it isn't the best shadow I've ever used, I do enjoy the variety of shades. It comes with two applicators, but I've really grown found of my ELF "C" brush so I don't really use them. I have noticed some fallout problems after a long day of wear, but nothing too shocking that would make me not want to use this product. 

Honestly, for the price I think it's a great starting point for someone who's new to makeup and color and really just wants to experiment a bit. That's what I've been doing, and I've really liked the outcome! It's also so cheap you don't have to feel stingy when using these shadows, so you could devote an entire day to trying different colors and looks and not feel bad about "wasting" the product. I've actually thought of doing a post dedicated to my explorations with this palette (because I'm still learning the ropes too!), so maybe that will crop up one of these days!

Do you own this palette? How do you feel about it? Have you created any looks with these colors? Let me know!

Cheers!

A product I am excited about: Revealed Palette

Good afternoon everyone!

So I must confess, as I've gotten more into makeup and have been browsing around, trying to find new things to add to my arsenal, I've started to lust after the Naked 3 palette. I've seen some absolutely beautiful looks done with this palette, and the more I looked the more I wanted... Until I saw the $52 USD price tag. and while I have waaaay more than $52 worth of stuff on my makeup wishlist, since there are so many other things I want to get right now (like a good primer and a clear lip liner) I decided I'd just have to wait. 

Then I did some digging, and I saw a lot of people recommend this Coastal Scents Revealed Palette as a good dupe. Normally it's $19.95, but I just ordered it for 25% off, making the total for the product (not shipping) $14.95. It's got 5 stars on the website's reviews, and I've heard so many good things I think the price and the steep shipping cost (it was $6.95 at the cheapest) was worth it. I'll report back as soon as it arrives on my door step! What are you excited for? Have you tried this product, or Naked 3? Let me know!

Until then, cheers!

Wild Orchids

Good afternoon everyone!

So this morning I decided to dig around in my makeup box (literally, I have no organization other than on my sinks surface and in a box) and pull out something I haven't used in awhile. I came back with a set of four crème eyeshadows from Revlon. Specifically I pulled out Revlon's Illuminance Crème Shadow in 701 Wild Orchids.

 I've had this for awhile now (and it's one of two that I own, maybe I'll try out the other one later) but I rarely use it. This is mostly because to me, crème eyeshadows are a lot of hassle and with little payoff. They're messy, difficult to apply evenly, and even though the color can be packed on for a vibrant look, in my experience it doesn't stay that way for an entire day of wear.

At first I thought that maybe I just didn't know how to apply/wear the crème eyeshadow, so I decided to look up some reviews. As it turns out, I'm not the only person who isn't a big fan of Revlon's crème eyeshadow line. As a note, I applied primer, and also ended up lightly packing on some white/pale nude powder shadow on top since I wasn't confident with just the crème.

I think in the future I'll give this quad another go, perhaps with some colored shadow on top (to make the powder color pop a bit more) but this honestly isn't my favorite.

So here's a quick pic of me with the shadow on (and yes, my baseline look is my left brow arched. I try to make them as neutral/even as possible but I always end up with my left brow arched, at least a tiny bit). You'll have to pardon my messy hair; I wanted to put on some makeup for fun, but I'm actually about to settle in for a much-needed Star Trek: TNG marathon with my SO!

Has anyone else tried the Revlon Illumiance crème shadows? What was your reaction? Do you have any tips or tricks for me? Let me know!

Enjoy your day, and cheers!