It Cosmetics-A Review

Hello, Everyone!

I've been wanting to write this post for almost two weeks, but I was waiting for one more piece to come in. It finally arrived Tuesday, so I decided to do an all It Cosmetics look earlier this week!

 The picture above shows what I used today, not all of what's in my It collection. :)

 

First, I'm going to go through what I used for this look, and then I will give you my thoughts on each product.

 

The only things I didn't have in my collection to complete this look were a lip liner, eyeliner, and mascara. Everything else was It Cosmetics! I prepped my skin with the Feel the Moment Anti-Aging Ultra Hydrating Sensory Awakening Primer Serum before applying my Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+ in a mixture of Fair and Light with my Heavenly Luxe Dual Airbrush Foundation/Concealer Brush. I then applied the Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer in Neutral Medium under my eyes and on a few of my hyperpigmentation spots. I set everything except under my eyes with the new pressed version of Bye Bye Pores in Translucent using the Heavenly Luxe Wand Ball Powder Brush. I used the CC+ Brightening Finishing Powder in the CC+ Radiance Palette to set my under eyes. To warm up my face, and to add some dimension, I applied the matte side of my CC + Radiance Ombre Bronzer in Warm Radiance around my hair line, jawline, in the hollows of my cheeks, and down my neck with the Airbrush Essential Bronzer Brush #114. I used the shimmery side of the bronzer as my highlight after applying the CC+ Radiance Ombre Blush in Je Nais Se Quoi. I used the French Boutique Heavenly Luxe Blush Brush to apply the blush to my cheeks.  It Cosmetics released a limited edition eye palette called Naturally Pretty Celebration around the holidays, which is what I used on my eyes. I only have one It eye brush, which is the Airbrush Blending Crease Brush #105. I used that brush in conjunction with other eye brushes that I own to apply the shadows.  Last, I used the Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil Mini to fill in my eyebrows and applied the Vitality Lip Blush Hydrating Gloss Stain in Sweet Rose to my lips! Whew!

 Now for my thoughts. If you aren't familiar with It Cosmetics, it was founded by Jamie Kern and she works with dermatologists and plastic surgeons on all of her products to ensure wonderful results. Not only will your makeup look good, but so will your skin! You can read more about that here. The Feel the Moment Primer Serum is clear (the bottle has a pink tint) and mine came with a pump and a dropper. It is a thick product that feels very silky to the touch and has a very botanical smell to it. It's not a bad smell, it's just different. Here's what it looks like pumped out, slightly rubbed in, and then completely rubbed in.

 

It does dry down to a slightly less dewy finish, but it is wonderfully hydrating for my dry skin and makes makeup application smooth. My mom has oiler skin than I do, and she likes this product, too. I've been using the CC+ Cream for over a year, and I do enjoy it. Light only works for me by itself in the summer when I have some color in my skin. Fair is a pretty great match the rest of the time, and I'm currently mixing it with Light. I feel like this gives me a dewy finish, and I have to set it with a powder. Some people don't think it's dewy at all. Even though I have dry skin, I'm very particular about dewy products and want to be able to control the amount of luminosity on my face. I love that it has such a high spf in it, and that it does have a good amount of coverage. If I'm in a hurry, I can use this as my moisturizer, primer, and foundation all in one and not feel dry during the day. However, this does not last all day on me, but it doesn't claim to. By the end of the day, my face looks extra dewy, and I can see more of my skin as opposed to the CC cream. The full size comes with a pump (which is awesome), even though it's a squeeze tube. The smaller, travel size version is a standard squeeze tube.

Left: CC+ Cream in Fair Right: CC+ Cream in Light

 

For the Bye Bye Under Eye, well, this stuff is amazing. I have dark under eye circles and this covers extremely well. I have the colors Light and Neutral Medium. It Cosmetics says that the majority of skin tones will use the Neutral Medium shade (something like 80%), which I originally thought was crazy. I'm usually the lightest shade in everything, so I picked up Light first. This is a bright color. I can actually highlight with this one. Neutral Medium matches my skin tone very well, and I've seen it work for people with skin darker than mine as well. The concealer shades are lighter than the CC+ Cream shades are. For example, the CC Cream shade in Light is too dark for me, where the concealer in Light is too light. This is a very emollient concealer, and does crease if not set immediately. It is also rather thick, so I suggest putting a very small amount on the back of your hand and warming it up with your finger before applying it to your under eye area. The full size and travel size are both squeeze tubes.

Left: Light    Right: Neutral Medium

 

I just got the Bye Bye Pores Pressed a few days ago, and I've never tried the loose version so I can't compare the two, so I cant give a complete review on it yet. However, I have used it for a few days, and I do like it. It helps to blur out my pores and makes my skin look filtered. It has a nice consistency and doesn't kick up a bunch of powder when you dip your brush into it. The packaging on this, just like all of the other It Cosmetics packaging in black, has that rubber feel to it like Nars products. Personally, I love that packaging, but it does hold onto smudges and makeup very easily. You can see in one of my pictures that the outside has a smudges of powder on it, and I hadn't even used the product at that point. The inside does flip up to hold an included flat sponge, which would make this travel friendly.

I love the little "it" on the mirror.

 

The CC+ Radiance Palette is a great palette, and another travel friendly item, since it's three products in one. The color correcting powder has different colors mixed into it to help even out the tone of your skin, and hide imperfections. It makes a great under eye setting powder; it really helps to brighten up the darkness. I didn't use the blush or the bronzer for this look, but both of those are wonderful as well, and very pigmented. This palette only comes in this color selection, and that is because it serves a multitude of skin colors.

It's a little difficult to see the setting powder on my pale girl skin. ;)

 

Now, on to what has to be my absolute favorite item from this brand. The CC+ Radiance Ombre Bronzer. Oh. My. Word. I don't normally do bronzers because almost everything looks orange on my skin because I'm very pale with cool undertones. I own plenty of other bronzers, but none of them have ever "wowed" me. This one though...I'm tempted to hoard more in case they ever become discontinued. It's a smooth powder with no dust kick up, and the matte side is a cooler toned bronzer which thrills me! You can use just the highlight side, just the matte side, or mix it all together. I've been very careful using this because I don't want to mix it all up and loose my matte side. I've used it every single day since I got it, and it is just so beautiful. I don't have a regular highlighter from It Cosmetics, so I used just the shimmery side in this look, and I don't think I need a stand alone highlighter now! I could literally just open the compact and stare at it all day. This, too, only comes in one color which is the Warm Radiance.

L to R: Matte bronzer, shimmery bronzer, matte and shimmery side combined.

I was curious if the bronzer in the Radiance Palette was the same as the matte side of the Ombre bronzer, and as you can see above, the Ombre one is slightly cooler and slightly darker. They will probably look almost identical on the face though.

 

The CC+ Radiance Ombre blush comes in one color (I'm sensing a theme here), Je Nais Se Quoi, and it's beautiful, as well. Just like the bronzer, it has a gradient from shimmery to matte in three different pinks. This one, I do tend to just swirl it all together and apply to my cheeks. It gives a beautiful flush to the cheeks, and I love it. It's just as smooth and non-powdery as the other products I've mentioned.

 The blush on the left is the It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Stain in Pretty in Peony, which I was comparing to the Ombre blush. Swatches left to right are as follows: Pretty in Peony, bottom of the Ombre, middle, top, and the last swatch is all of the colors in the Ombre blush swirled together.

 

I didn't swatch the Naturally Pretty Celebration palette because 1) it was limited edition and is no longer available and 2) the colors didn't swatch well on my arm. The lighter colors didn't show up on me at all. Don't let that concern you though! They didn't swatch well, but they are pigmented when I apply them to my eyes! It Cosmetics does have a permanent Naturally Pretty Palette, but I don't have that one. As I said, it is an all matte palette, with the exception of the Transforming Ombre Radiance Ribbon, which goes from a light to darker shimmering gold. The shadows, like all of the other powder products, are extremely smooth (almost buttery) and blend like a dream. The only issue I find with them is that if you over blend, you can muddy the colors together and it's not as pretty. It's very easy to over blend since they are so smooth! How many times can I say smooth in this post?! Lol.

 

I've had the Brow Power for a while, and I usually reach for other pencils over this one. It's supposed to be a universal color, but if I'm not careful, it can lean too warm on my skin and look a little red. The intensity of the color all depends on how much pressure you apply it with. The tip is an odd shape, but is too big to get a clean, sharp line to really sculpt the brows. If you've seen my brow post, you know that I don't have a lot of brow to work with, and basically recreate mine. When I pulled this back out to do this look, I did find that I liked it a little more this time around. If I use a smaller tipped pencil (like the NYX Micro Brow or the Anastasia Brow Wiz) to outline, I can use this one to fill the brows in. They do have a few other pencils (one is a "skinny" pencil), but I've only tried this one. It Cosmetics did come out with the Build-A-Brow Waterproof 5-In-1 Micro-Fiber Crème Stain earlier this year, I believe, and I am really interested in trying that! I have the ABH dipbrow, but I've heard the It one is better!

I used varying degrees of pressure to show the different intensities you can achieve. 

 

The last cosmetic I applied was the Gloss Stain in Sweet Rose! In the tube and swatched, it looks like a neutral, mauvey color, but a little while after I put it on my lips, it turns into a bright color! It has a very comfortable formula, and I don't notice any stickiness. I'm more of a lipstick girl, instead of lipgloss, but I can comfortably wear this. It doesn't have an offensive smell or taste, but if you lick your lips or get any of it on your tongue, it has an oily feel to it that I do not care for. It's not enough to make me not wear it, but I am careful about getting it in my mouth.

 

I own six brushes by It Cosmetics: three from the regular line and three from the It Brushes for Ulta collection. If you have never tried a brush from them, you have no idea what you're missing. I suggest you run to your nearest Ulta to at least feel the bristles. I guarantee you'll walk out with at least one. The regular line of brushes are expensive, and I suggest if you're interested in getting some It cosmetics and brushes, that you purchase them from QVC. They usually have flex pay and bundle the brushes with a cosmetic item. All three of my black handled brushes were acquired that way. The It Brushes for Ulta, are just as soft and great quality, but less expensive. I love these brushes! I wish I had one of every brush they've created. They are that good, in my opinion. Here are my six:

The brush in the middle of the second picture is the Airbrush OMG! Foundation Brush #106 from the It Brushes for Ulta collection. It isn't mentioned above because I didn't use it in this look, but it's still a great brush.

 

All in all, I absolutely love this brand and can't wait to explore more items from them. This post is in NO WAY sponsored, as It Cosmetics has absolutely no idea who I am. :) I just love this brand and wanted to talk about it. It has taken me two days to write this post because I wanted to be thorough and I had that much to say about it!! Have you tried It Cosmetics? What did you think? What else should I try?!

 

Thanks for reading, and please subscribe! :)

 

 

 

 

*None of the links above are affiliates.

*All products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.





Lorac Alter Ego Lip Set-Updated!

Hello, Everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about a Lorac product that I ordered from Ulta a few weeks ago. This was an "Online Only" set that, I believe, was exclusive to Ulta. At this time, it is no longer available on their website, but you can buy each item individually. This set originally came in three different "colors", Nude, Pink, and Plum; Pink being the set that I have. Each set contained two Alter Ego lipsticks and two of the new Alter Ego lipglosses in the same colors, with mine containing Girl Next Door and Sex Kitten.  Ulta was (and still is) running a "gift with purchase" promo that allowed you to get a deluxe size of the Alter Ego lipgloss in Goddess when you purchased $25 or more of Lorac products.

I'll start with the lipsticks. The gunmetal colored packaging is beautiful, but can hold onto fingerprints, and I LOVE the fact that the bottom shows the color of the lipstick inside. They smell absolutely divine, better than Mac lipsticks; like a whole sweet bakery shoved in these little tubes. These lipsticks are extremely pigmented, which is good and bad. The good being it only takes one swipe for full color; the bad being that these lighter colors can look chalky since they are so opaque that none of my natural lip color shows through. The Alter Ego lipsticks are very creamy, and I don't find them drying on the lips even though these two colors are matte. Girl Next Door is a lighter, peachy pink neutral, that looks pretty with my skin tone and doesn't wash me out, while Sex Kitten is a bright, almost neon, pink. I don't feel like I can quite pull of Girl Next Door without gloss on top though, due to the fact that it does look rather chalky. As for the Alter Ego lipglosses, they have the same gunmetal color on the top, while the rest is a clear cylinder that you can easily see the color through. Each of the colors match the lipsticks perfectly, with the same delicious sweet smell. Each of these glosses are opaque, and can easily be worn on their own for beautiful color payoff. The formula is creamy, not streaky, and doesn't feel sticky to me. They're very comfortable to wear and can last three-four hours depending on the amount of eating and drinking you do during that time.

Alter Ego lipstick in Girl Next Door topped with the matching lipgloss

Alter Ego lipstick in Sex Kitten

Alter Ego lipstick in Sex Kitten topped with the matching lipgloss

 

I neglected to take a picture of me wearing just Girl Next Door because I immediately topped it with the lipgloss, but I assure you, it wasn't exactly flattering. I do own one other color in the Alter Ego line, Duchess, and it's not as light in color, so it doesn't have the chalkiness issue that these can. All in all, I love these lipsticks and glosses. I haven't worn Goddess on my lips yet, but I have a feeling I'm going to want the lipstick and the full size gloss. ;)

**Update- all three of these sets (Pink, Nude, and Plum) are back in stock on the Ulta website! 

 

 

Thanks for visiting and please subscribe!

 

 

 

*None of the links above are affiliates

*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Was it Worth the Purchase?

Hello, Everyone!
Sorry that I've been MIA; I had surgery to remove my gallbladder last Friday and I've been in recovery. Aka laying flat on my back because everything else hurts like the dickens.

Anyways, on to why you're actually here! Recently, I posted my Sephora VIB sale haul, and today I want to share if the things I purchased were worth it. I've had a chance to use almost everything, so I wanted to weigh in. My purchase looked like this:

I am just giving my opinion on the items I purchased, not the free samples that I received. The first thing is the Dior Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush in Petal (it only comes in one shade).
This looks very bright in the pan, which might cause my fellow pale skinned beauties to panic. Don't panic! The "science" behind this product is to help recreate a natural flush on your cheeks based on your body's chemistry. Yes, it's one of those products. Dior suggests you swipe once into the pan for natural color, and twice for more intense color. I swipe twice because, as a pale girl, I look kind of dead without some color in my face. On my dry skin, this does last the entire work day for me, which from the time I put it on to the time I get home, is about 12 hours. Was it worth the purchase? I'm happy I got it on sale, and even though I do like it, I wouldn't have purchased it at full price.

Next would be the Kaplan MD Perfect Pout Lip Mask + Lip Balm Duo. I haven't used it enough, exclusively, to be able to confirm all of it's claims, but I do like the tingling mask and I really like the lip balm. It has an SPF of 20 (a must for me), and it on the thicker side so it stays on pretty well. I'm still on the fence on whether or not it was worth it.

Then, there is the L'Occitane Cleansing And Softening Shower Oil With Almond Oil and the Soap & Glory Hand Food (no longer available on the Sephora website). I have actually finished the Cleansing Oil, and will not repurchase. I know many people rave about it, and I didn't think it was bad, I just don't think it's worth the money. I was a nice oil, and smelled pleasant, but just didn't leave me feeling clean enough. It was nice for a bath or shaving, though. As for the Hand Food, I actually ordered another one to have for when this one runs out. It absorbs quickly, smells nice, and actually leaves my hands moisturized.

 The one thing from this haul that I have NOT tried, is the Estee Lauder Little Black Primer. I'm still making my way through my Lancôme Cils Booster XL and using the Dior Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum that was my 100 point perk this order (which is friggin amazing).

The one thing was that a fail for me in this purchase, was the Dior Addict Lip Maximizer High Volume Lip Plumper in Sheer Pink. I don't have thin lips, but wouldn't mind if they looked a little fuller, so I thought this would be a good product to try. I actually returned this product. It made my lips glossy (duh, it's a gloss), which helps with the appearance of fullness, and it did help to plump up any lines in my lips. However, any good lip balm can do that for me. I want more for my money. The biggest turn off for me, was this caused my lips to peel and flake. Yeah, not a good look. The day I returned it to Sephora, I got a sample of the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask to repair the damage since nothing I owned was getting rid of the peeling.

(Top picture is my lips without any product; bottom picture is ten minutes after applying the Dior Maximizer)

 

 

The last three items in my purchase were the Tony Moly Bbo Bbo Lip Balm in Blueberry, Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Crème in Georgie Girl, and the Beauty Blender Pro. I do like the Tony Moly lip balm; it's very moisturizing and has a nice scent. I would repurchase this one. The Marc Jacobs lipstick in Georgie Girl might be the prettiest pink lipstick that I own. And that says a lot about this lipstick. The color is beautiful, the formula is creamy and long-lasting, and it has a yummy smell. Plus the packaging is adorable, with its magnetic closure. The only bad thing I could say about this would be that I love it so much, I want more colors! I already had the Original Beauty Blender, and when it came time to replace it, I decided to go with the Pro since it was black and might not look as dingy when dirty. I already knew I loved the BB, so this was worth the purchase since it's a repurchase. The Pro doesn't seem as "pointy" as the original one though. It still works just fine, but I do prefer the finer tip on the original.

(Marc Jacobs Georgie Girl)

(Photo credit Sephora.com)



 One more item! I almost forgot the Shiseido Facial Cotton! These are extremely soft and don't leave bits of cotton on my eyes when I'm removing my eye makeup like my Kroger cotton rounds do. It's nice not having to pick tiny fibers out of my eyes! I can use one sheet to remove eye makeup from both eyes, as opposed to two or three cotton rounds. I do think these are worth the purchase! However, I have heard of a dupe found on Amazon (cotton cloud?) that I'm interested in comparing.

 

That's it! I think. I plan on doing another of these posts regarding my other hauls as well, so let me know what you think! Thanks for visiting, and please subscribe!

 

 

 

 

 

*None of the links above are affiliates



*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own

Sephora Haul!

Hello, everyone!

I recently renewed my VIB status at Sephora, and with it, received a 10% off discount on my next purchase. I also had a Sephora gift card burning a hole in my pocket! The great thing about those coupons is that you can use them once online and once in-store. This works out great for me because the closest Sephora to me is a Sephora in JCP, and those don't have the full range of products like a stand alone store does, or like the website. During the VIB sale (which was 15% off), I went into Sephora for one thing in particular, but it was sold out. Every summer, Sephora in JCP comes out with a Sephora Favorites Summer Obsessions kit that is exclusive to Sephora in JCP. They usually come with a makeup bag and quite a few items, from deluxe to full sizes. I bought the one last year, and really wanted this years! They put me on the waitlist and then called me once it came in so I could pick it up. Here's what this year's looks like:

The cost is $39 and you get a FULL-SIZE Beauty Blender Pro ($19.95) and a FULL-SIZE Nars lipgloss in Turkish Delight ($26). Those two products alone cost more than the entire kit! Also included is a travel size of the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes, a deluxe sample size of Benefit's Watt's Up, a travel size Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Fearless, a travel size Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer, and travel size Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray ($14). Plus the makeup bag! I needed a new Beauty Blender and I've wanted Turkish Delight for years, so this was perfect! Here are swatches of the bronzer, blush, highlighter, and lip gloss:

 

That is actually the only thing I picked up in-store. The other things were ordered online, and here's a shot of those!

 

 One other item I wanted during the VIB sale was the Clinique Cheek Pop in Pink Pop, which was (in)conveniently out of stock during the entire sale. I managed to snag that, as well as the Urban Decay Primer Potion in Enigma, a 100 point perk which was the Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel (travel size), a Makeup Forever 100 point perk of their new Artist Plexi Gloss in 202, 100 point perk of Caudalie's Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet, another of the Soap & Glory Hand Food lotions (no longer on the Sephora website), and since I needed a matte dark brown, long-wearing eyeliner, I picked up the Sephora Contour Eye Pencil in Tiramisu. I have heard great things about this formulation, and I haven't quite found that "perfect" brown yet. I got some great samples to try out, as well! Coffeebreakwithdani was singing the praises of Urban Decay's Enigma because 100% of the proceeds go to empower women. I am all for women empowerment! I haven't had a chance to try most of this out yet (which is why this is a haul and not a review) since I haven't worn makeup since the eventful ER trip. Trust me, I'm more shocked than anyone that I haven't worn a stitch of makeup in five days. I'm breaking it all back out tomorrow though!!

 

Have you picked up anything good (or bad) lately? Let me know below! Thanks for reading and please subscribe!

 

 

 

*None of the links above are affiliate links.

*All items mentioned were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows: A Review

Hello, everyone!

I figured while I was still mostly bed-ridden, I would get another post up! I've been planning this one out for a few weeks because I am extremely excited to do this one, but I had to wait for another order to get here. If you aren't familiar with Makeup Geek (you might live under a rock), it is a company founded by a sweet woman named Marlena, which started with her YouTube channel, Makeup Geek. She sells all sorts of items, her brand and others, so definitely check her out! Today, is all about the foiled shadows. I now have three from the original line, and three of the newly released ones to review. There are 20 shades, total, so I know my review of six may seem small, but I'm paying for these babies myself. No one's sending me any goodies, so I'm collecting them in small doses. :)  Makeup Geek's regular powder eyeshadows used to come in two forms: compacts and pans, but I no longer see compact as an option on their website.  Each regular powder eyeshadow pan is $5.99, and each foiled eyeshadow pan is $9.99. I am a huge fan of the regular Makeup Geek eyeshadows, but today I want to review the foiled shadows. Like I mentioned, I own six.

(L to R, top to bottom: Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

 

 

The packaging for the foiled shadows have a different color scheme than the regular packaging does, which makes it a little more fun. I appreciate cute packaging. This packaging has a "foiled" finish to it, which is (obviously) fitting. The original colors I had were Jester and In the Spotlight, then I signed up for the pre-order email and ordered Whimsical and Starry Eyed when they released. Also, if you signed up for their subscription list, they sent you a 10% coupon in early April, which I used for these. I just received Day Dreamer and Mesmerized on Monday, but since that was the night I was in the ER, I haven't had a chance to wear them. However, I have swatched them, and am confident that the formula is the same as the four I have worn, so I am including them in this review. I will be including pictures of me wearing the four I have worn at the end of this post so that you can see these (spoiler alert) amazing shadows in action. Let's get to the swatches!



(Inside with natural lighting from the window. L-R Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

(Hanging out my front door for natural light: L-R Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

Do you see the metallic, shiny goodness of these shadows?! They are SO beautiful! They are extremely smooth and buttery (almost feeling like a cream), and last such a long time! I have only worn these on my lids, inner corners, and lower lashline, as I don't like anything that isn't a matte in my crease or on my browbone. I have applied these at 7am and they are still there when I wash my face at 10pm. Absolutely amazing. I use a Mac paint pot in Soft Ochre underneath, and haven't tried any other primer with them. Temptalia reviewed these and found that, for her, these didn't last as long and stay crease free over eyeshadow primers such as the Urban Decay ones. I don't have perfectly smooth eyelids, so these can crease on me, right in the inner part of my lids, but it's nothing I can't smooth out with my finger. Speaking of fingers, that is my preferred method to apply these initially. You can apply them with a brush, but I use my finger for maximum color payoff. I will then take my fluffy blending blush and blend the edges so that everything looks seamless and there are no harsh lines. You know what the best thing about these may be? I get NO fallout with them. None. Zero. Zip. Get it? I will have NO glitter on my face from these, at all, during the day. And that is without having to spray Mac Fix+ on my finger/brush before applying them. I know you can "foil" just about any shadow that is not a matte and get a similar affect, but that requires extra products and you can still get fallout from that method. If you follow me on Instagram (@acleftwich), I'm sure you were tired of seeing my makeup looks for the day, because I was using the foiled shadows every day. They are that good, guys. I keep singing their praises to my mom, informing her that she needs these. I can't wait to get more! You can buy each pan individually for $9.99, the new 10 shade expansion for $89, or the complete set of 20 for $175 from the Makeup Geek website. The only thing that could be a con with these is that since they are so soft and buttery, they can crumble easily. Makeup Geek does a great job of packaging them in bubble wrap and packing peanuts, so none of mine have arrived broken, but I have heard of some that were received as press samples that had shattered. Once again, I haven't had that problem. If you were to drop it, it would shatter. I accidentally dug my nail in Starry Eyed yesterday and almost cried. No joke. To sum it up, these shadows are almost crease-proof, smooth, high color payoff, truly have a "foiled" look to them, long-wearing (I do not have oily lids), inexpensive, and all around amazing. I hope you check them out to see what I mean! No, this isn't in any way sponsored. Neither Marlena or the Makeup Geek staff have any clue who I am.  :) Here are a few pictures of me wearing four out of six colors.

Look at that sparkly goodness! Youngwildandpolished would be proud of those inner corners! :) I hope you all enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you've  tried these, let me know your thoughts!


*None of the links above are affiliates.
*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Urban Decay Naked 3 vs Coastal Scents Revealed 2

 

Hello, Everyone!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts. I had this planned to go up last night, but an unexpected trip to the ER for my gallbladder pushed it back! Anyways, on to the post!

Today, I want to discuss the comparison between the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette ($54) and the Coastal Scents Revealed 2 palette ($19.95).

(Photo Credit: Sephora.com)

 

(Photo Credit: Coastalscents.com)

 

Both palettes contain neutral, rosy shades with variation in finishes. The UD palette contains 12 shades, and only three of those are mattes, while the CS palette contains 20 shades, and seven of those are mattes. The rest are a mixture of satin, metallic, or frost. First, are my swatches (bare skin, no primer) of the Urban Decay Naked 3:

(From L to R: Strange, Dust, Burnout, Limit, Buzz, Trick, Nooner, Liar, Factory, Mugshot, Darkside, & Blackheart)

 

 

The Naked 3 swatches beautifully. The problem is, they're not as beautiful on the eyes. Dust and Buzz have horrible fallout and lack pigmentation once applied. If I use either color on my lids, my cheeks are glitter city throughout the day. Not a good look. Trick is a beautiful rose gold color, but the top layer has to be scraped off to maximize it's potential. Burnout swatches like a pretty satin pink color, perfect for the lid, but once applied, it is rather dull. By far, my favorite colors in this palette are Limit and Nooner, two of the three mattes. Those two are perfect crease colors. Liar, Factory, and Mugshot are beautiful (how many times can I use the word beautiful?!) taupe-y colors, but all three look the same once applied. :(  Strange is a matte creamy color, perfect for the brow bone. I was happy to see this color in here, as I prefer a matte brow bone highlight. Darkside and Blackheart are good for adding definition to your looks and darkening them up, but neither are mattes. Blackheart is a matte black with red glitter, which swatches really pretty, but once you blend it out, the red glitter disappears. Overall, I don't like enough colors in the palette for it to be worth the money. There isn't enough variation to create different looks. No matter which color combinations I use, each look comes out looking the same.

 

Here are my swatches (bare skin, no primer) of the Coastal Scents Revealed 2 palette.:

(There are no shade names for this palette)

 

You get eight more colors in the Coastal Scents palette than in the UD 3 one, and four more mattes. There are great dupes for Burnout, Limit, Trick, Nooner, Liar, Factory, and Mugshot. The CS 2 palette even has the same annoying, glitter everywhere, shade as Dust. There is a similar shade to Blackheart, except it seems to have more of a silver glitter instead of red running through it. The second shade on top is a great matte highlight color, but it is more pink toned than the UD 3 one, which is more white. You also get a matte burgundy, brown, and black in this palette, and none of those colors in the UD 3 palette. The CS palette also has a gold and a few bronzy shades as well. As with most palettes, there are some texture variations. Some are smoother and creamier than others, and some feel rather gritty. However, there are a lot  more that are creamy than there are gritty. I love that the Revealed 2 has the burgundy colors included, as well as the matte brown and black. I am a huge fan of matte shadows. Both palettes flatter my green eyes incredibly well. I am able to get more variations in looks with the Revealed 2 than I am with the UD 3, which I love. Once again, the Urban Decay Naked 3 will run you $54 dollars on the Urban Decay website, Ulta, or Sephora, and the Coastal Scents palette is $19.95, but occasionally goes on sale for $9.95, which I what I paid for it.

 

Final verdict? I prefer the Coastal Scents palette over the Urban Decay Naked 3. I can get more looks out of it, there are more mattes, it has the burgundy colors that I love, and it's less expensive. The quality is just as good, and with some shades, even better than the Urban Decay Naked 3. If you're looking for a rosy toned palette, I would suggest trying out the Coastal Scents Revealed 2. It is absolutely beautiful and a great bargain!

 

Do you have either palette? Both? Leave me your thoughts below!

 

 

 

 

*none of the links above are affiliates.

*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.



Brows: Yes, They are Important!

Hello, Everyone!

I never thought eyebrows would be as important as they are to me now. When I was in high school, I took Cosmetology for three out of the four years, and we were taught waxing. And in the early 2000's, thin brows were "in". I waxed and tweezed the top, bottom, and in between my brows constantly. I'm pretty sure I looked like I had two almost straight lines above my eyes. I cringe when I look at old pictures. After almost 10 years (I'm only 28, people!) of constant waxing and plucking, this is what my brows look like now:

 

I've been trying to grow them out for the past year or more, and this is as full as they get. Unfortunately, the top part of my brows are lighter than the rest, so they can look a little more sparse than they actually are. Which is why I hardly ever leave my house without my brows filled in. If you're a teenager and reading this: drop the tweezers and walk away. You'll thank me later. If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this collage, but I didn't go into details. For this post, I'm going to show you my every day, "natural" brow look, I sometimes just use pencil, and for the past two days, I've only used powder, but for this post, I used pencil, powder, and gel.   If I'm going out, or want a glam look, there are other products I'll use and it takes a little longer. But this post isn't for that.  :)

 

Like everyone else, I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz, but it's $21 for a pencil. Let's face it: we got through eyebrow pencils extremely fast. $21 every 5-6 weeks, is expensive. Then NYX came out with their Micro Brow Pencils, which are $9.99 at Ulta and come in seven different colors. NYX often goes on sale for buy one, get one half off or 40% off; plus you can use the Ulta coupon for $3.50 off $10, making these a GREAT value. I picked up Taupe and Ash Brown, but the Taupe is a little too light for me. I don't like my brows too dark, and the Ash Brown is perfect. I use the darker side of the Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Taupe, and the Anastasia #7 Duo Angle/Spooley Brush to apply it with. To top it all off is the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel. I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the tinted version last year during Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty Steals. I actually bought the powder, gel, and brush in this Bold Brow Kit from Ulta. On to the pictorial!

 

I always like to brush all of the brush hairs up before applying any product to them. This helps me to see the shape, as well as any hairs that may need to be trimmed or stray hairs that need to be plucked. The spoolie at the end of the NYX pencil isn't bad, but it's not nearly as good as the ABH one.

 

After brushing all of the hairs up, I always make my line under the brow to start my guideline. For this picture, I used my pencil to do this.

 

Next, I draw my guideline on top of my brow. I know that a lot of people advise against this, but keep in mind, I am basically reconstructing my brows, not just filling them in. Once again, step away from the tweezers. This step is done with my pencil, as well.

 

Last, I fill these babies in! Sometimes I will use my pencil to do this part, and add a little powder, or I'll just stick with the pencil. For the picture above, I used only the powder to fill them in. Using the powder covers a lot more area in a short amount of time, which is perfect on work mornings when I'm trying to get me, four kids, and a husband out the door before 7am!

 

I love great eyebrows. I went to the dentist this morning to get my teeth cleaned and the dental hygienist sat down and stopped mid-sentence to say "you're eyebrows are perfect". I just grinned and thanked her.

 

What is your eyebrow routine? Or are you one of the lucky ones with perfectly full brows? If you are, I'm very slightly jealous.  ;)

 

Thanks for reading and please subscribe!

 

*None of the links above are affiliate links

*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.