Fall & Winter lipstick revamping

Fall and Winter bring on the trend of everyday smokey eyes and dark lip colors. If you're like me you don't exactly have all the money in the world to shout out for brand new lipsticks every time a new trend comes around. I personally love to buy my basics. I love a few plums, a few pinks, and most of all reds. For me a red lip is always a classic, not to mention how the blue undertones can help make your teeth look whiter.
The easiest way to rectify the situation of following a trend but not exactly spending $15 for a new MAC lipstick every time you need a darker version of whatever shades you already love is mixing colors. By mixing colors you can revamp an old favorite, make custom shades, or even just keep up with the trend in your own comfort zone.
(shade to left is Lasting Finish Kate Moss collection from Rimmel London in shade 09)

The red color looks very plumy in the picture but in person it gives you the perfect deeper, richer red that I was looking for that had no brown-brick tint to it. I wanted a dark red lipstick and couldn't find one in drugstores so I created my own.

(The shade I used on the left was Covergirl LipPerfection lipstick in Eternal)

And by adding a purple lipstick to it I got a more plum red, more like the shade in the other picture. It's honestly so easy to try out and figure out if you like it or what colors work well with you before you go out and commit to a shade you might never wear.

(The shade I used on the left was Covergirl LipPerfection lipstick in Eternal)

Adding a more purple tone lip color that I didn't really like too much on it's own to pink lipsticks that I didn't really like on their own created a very nice pink hued purple and a bright lavender. Adding the shade to pinks brought pinks to a different level and made it easy for me try out the lavender/purple lip trend on a budget with pinks that I already had in my collection.

 Moral of  the story: You don't have to spend a whole bunch of cash to try out trends that are going on around you. Use what you have, do your research and most of all be creative! Have fun with your lip colors and express yourself.
(Also did you know coral and purple make mauve? They totally do haha)

Hope this was helpful ^-^
XOXO

Shimmer & Shake Show-Stopping Collection Swatches and Review

Shimmer and Shake Show-Stopping Collection 

$59 at Sephora

For anyone who didn't read my previous post that included a review on one of these shades these lip glosses aren't exactly the most opaque formula. if you enjoy high shine, minty plumping, and a bit of stickyness that helps them stay longer this may be the perfect set for you. It comes with 15 mini glosses in 3 different finishes. So lets get started.

(L to R: Sandy-- Trixie-- Katie-- Dolly-- Sugar)

Sandy

A very pale pinky nude with tiny shimmers or "Pink Nude"

Trixie

 Corally pink also with tiny shimmers or "Golden Rose"

Katie

 Baby Pink with tiny shimmers or "Pale Pink

Dolly

 Mauve with a hint of lavender or "Muted Plum"

Sugar

Brown with a hint of pink undertones or "Rose Beige" 

These glosses have tiny shimmers to them however they do not have glitter chucks in them like the last five. These can be purchased individually in larger sizes for $19 exclusively at Sephora.

(L to R: Kir Royale-- Pink Lady-- White Russian-- Mudslide-- Cherry flip)

Kir Royale

 A glossy berry/plum or "Rich Wine"

Pink Lady

 A bubble gum pink or "Electric Pink"

White Russian

 A pink hued nude or "Nude Pink"

Mudslide

 A Mauve or "Petal Pink"

Cherry Flip

 Light Red/Coral or "Red Poppy"

These are a smidge more opaque and have no shimmer to them. These can be purchased individually for $19 (full size) exclusively at Sephora.

(L to R: Victoria--Olivia-- Amanda-- Lauren-- Rachel)

Victoria

 Dark Mauve with a lot of glitter.

Olivia

 Bright Pink with a lot of glitter.

Amanda

 Clear with a lot of glitter.

Lauren

 Coral with a lot of glitter.

Rachel

 Pinky Purple with a lot of glitter.

These are very transparent and remind me of the Urban Decay Stardust lip glosses. Lots of shine and glitter and not a lot of color pay off. These aren't sold at Sephora.

Hope you enjoyed

XOXO

Give Me More Lip Product Review

Give Me More Lip was a gift set that was sold exclusively at Sephora that contained 16 lip products. 4 in a nude shade, 4 in a red shade, 4 in a pink shade, and 4 in a more berry dark shade. Each product was made by a different high end company and came in an assortment of things including lipsticks, pencils, stains and glosses. 

The Reds

(L to R: Kat Von D Foil Love in Adora -- Hourglass Opaque Rogue in Icon -- Make Up For Ever Rogue Artist Natural in N45 -- Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Pomegrante)

The Kat Von D lipstick has a nice texture to it, is opaque but the amount of shimmer in it really kind of turns me off to it. I have a red lipstick from revlon that is about the same color and I NEVER wear it because of the amount of shimmer in the lipstick. I like shine in a lipstick, or matte lipsticks, shimmer lipsticks always seem to fade kind of funny on my mouth and cake up faster on the corners. Maybe it's just me talking too much that causes that though. 

*Full Size- $19 

Hourglass is a darker, deeper red. If you've ever tried a liptar, or velvetine this has the same basic formula. It starts off hydrating and then dries to a matte finish that becomes harder to remove than most lipsticks. That being said I have NEVER tried anything that doesn't budge when you kiss someone. Every lipstick that I've tried in every formula transfers at least a little so don't expect perfection. It does give a nice finish and last fairly long though. It lasted me through a night of drinking and a night of sleeping (tried it out of curiosity) only the inside of my lips, toward the center was bare when I woke up.

*Full Size- $28 *Travel Size- $10

Make Up For Ever was maybe the most disappointing product in the box. I expect a lot from this brand since I did use it in school and everything was super pigmented and rich feeling. This brand has always seemed to embody decadence to me, so you can imagine my surprise when I got this and it was so thin feeling and missing that oomph that I wanted from a MUFE red. It's pretty for a wash of red but really not worth it. For that buy a tinted lip balm.

*Full Size- $20

Bite Beauty was really nice. I was expecting something were I would have to build up the color to a decent red color but these pencils pack in opaque color with the first swipe. It wasn't drying and just felt amazing on. It is a classic pin up red that is amazing feeling and true to color.

*Full Size- $24 *Gift Set of 4 Travel Size- $25

The Nudes

(L to R: Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Nylon Nude-- Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Naked-- Bare Minerals Buxom in White Russian-- Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in 02 Dolce)

Smashbox this nude has a nice feel to it and is pretty opaque but (keep in mind this may just be my lips) the color doesn't stick to certain parts of my lips, usually the parts that need to be better exfoliated, and therefore looks awful on me. If a lipstick sinks into your fine lines and refuses to cover you lip color equally all around it doesn't look cute it looks sloppy. Maybe if I were to exfoliate more it would help but me and nude lips have never been very close friends because of that problem. 

*Full Size- $20

Laura Mercier in Bare Naked was actually a pleasant surprise. Me and nude lipsticks don't work out, me and nude lipglosses are now best friends. This gloss was a little sparkly and smooth as butter. If you are a fan of glosses that don't feel sticky, have full color, and also don't feel greasy this one is perfect. This brand really nailed down what nude should look like to be flattering since (in my opinion) nudes with a pink hue are more universally flattering on skin tones than yellow based nudes which can make you look dead.

*Full Sized- $24 *Travel Size set of 4- $38

Bare Minerals Buxom in White Russian was my most shocking product of the bunch. I had previously read about this brand and how these lipglosses are minty (which I don't usually like) and sticky (which I despise) and sure enough when I tried it on it was both of those things. It was minty to help plump lips and sticky which I'm guessing made them think would stay longer. These were everything I thought I'd hate but when I tried them I fell in love. The minty feeling is something that doesn't bother me, it does last quiet a long time tingling. It isn't sticky enough to turn me off of these either. It is exactly as sticky as longer lasting glosses are (nothing has ever been as sticky as old NYC or Victoria Secret lip glosses) so these are a total win for me. If you know you can't look passed all of that don't bother though.

*Full Sized- $19 *Travel Size set of 6- $29 *Travel Size set of 15- $59 (review and swatches later)

Stila all day liquid lipstick doesn't last you all day. However, it is opaque and long lasting. When I used it, it never really dried to a matte finish but it did last me about half a day without needing to retouch. Dolce is a little on the brown side and ventures away from being a nude and walks more the line of being a brown, that being said it doesn't look bad, it makes it look a bit more fall/wintery in fact. 

*Full Size- $22

The Berries

(L to R: Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12 Hour Lipstick in Inspired-- Obessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Strumpet-- Bare Minerals Buxom Lipstick in Menace-- Stila Color Balm Stick in Sonya)

The Tarte Glamazon lipstick isn't exactly a berry shade. It's a mauve color that is a tiny bit sticky for a lip gloss but definitely won't last you 12 hours. It's your basic mauve lipstick guys. Nothing extraordinary about the color, feel or finish. It does feel nice, doesn't dry out your lips and if opaque.

*Full Size- $26

OCC Lip Tars are infamous. They come in tubes with a little lip brush start off like a gloss and dry matte. A little really goes a long way with these babies. AMAZINGLY you get a full sized lip tar in this kit (which some stores still have) and the color is just amazing. This is the perfect fall lip color, is long lasting (tiny bit of transfer), comes with it's own lip brush and can be utilized as face paint. 

*Full Size- $18 *Travel Size set of 12- $58

Stila is my other kind of dud in this kit. It's a berry tinted balm. It doesn't stain, doesn't last long, and isn't opaque at all. For a tinted lip balm I'd go to the drugstore not Sephora guys. Pretty color, nice on the lips.

*Full Sized- $22

The Pinks

(L to R: Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Never Say Never-- Too Faced Le Creme in Marshmallow Bunny-- Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Pout-- Kat Von D Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Backstage Bambi)

Marvelous Moxie lipstick has a nice feel, is really opaque and is the definition of HOT PINK. It has a hint of Fuchsia but is a bright pink none-the-less. It doesn't last super long or claim to either. This is a brand new item from Bare Minerals and I have to say the most interesting part of it for me was the packaging. The lipstick comes in a full body lid that will pop into place and not budge once there, which is perfect for the person on the go who worries about a top opening and ruining everything in your bag, including your lipstick.

*Full Size $18

I really wanted to love the Too Faced lipstick, I really did but I had the same problem as I did with the Nude Smashbox lipstick that it just didn't cover my entire mouth with an even amount of opacity. It's a beautiful light pink that I think would flatter pale complexions in a princess sort of way. 

* Full Size- $21

Pout is a complete cotton candy shade, which I will tell you now doesn't look good on everyone. It seems semi transparent and is a little sticky. It'll last you a while longer on your lips since it is a bit goopy. I'm honestly not sure how "lip enhancing" this color really is though.

*Full Size- $19

Kat Von D completely outdoes herself with this shade/line. The packaging feels plastic and really cheap but the hot pink is so vivid and perfectly flattering for most skin tones that it's excusable. Like the Lip Tar, Velvetines (I have a blog post raving about them under my red lipsticks) and Hourglass lipsticks this starts off smooth and liquidy then dries to a matte finish. It does transfer a bit when dry but still won't budge without you trying to remove it. 

*Full Size- $19

You can catch almost everything (Not the Marvelous Moxie lipstick) at the Sephora website and since it is the holidays most of these are in little gift sets right now. Hope you enjoyed and it helped you decide what you wanted/needed and want/need to give. 

XOXO

The Holy Grail of Sharpeners

Now maybe I'm last to this party but when I saw beauty blogger/beauty guru xsparkage talk about the Grindhouse sharpener from Urban Decay and how it came with the Loco Ocho 2 bundle and how amazing it was I got curious. Curious enough to look it up, see it was $10 and say "NOPE!" since you can get at least one sharpener for $1 at most dollar stores. 

Now, my Ulta haul was a total bust. I went and bought a tiny Ulta eyeshadow pallet for $8 and a new NYX pallet for $20+ and when I got them home I was super disappointed. My Ulta pallet had been opened already and was dirty, used and abused. Now I know how to clean and sanitize products so that didn't make me too wary, it was the NYX pallet that threw me over the edge. It's a pallet with a top compartment with all neutral eyeshadows and a bottom part with blush and highlight. I opened the top part and one of the eyeshadows was broken, which wasn't too bad because it's fixable with alcohol, tissue paper and a quarter. What got me was that I couldn't open the second compartment to fix the highlight that was also broken and spilling EVERYWHERE! 

Out of frustration I put everything back and went to Ulta today to exchange my stuff. One of the things I decided to pick up on a whim was the Grindhouse sharpener. (I know, long story, little pay off)

Grindhouse as I mentioned is $10 and can be bought at Ulta.com - Sephora.com - or UrbanDecay.com

It is double barreled, super sharp blades, has a removable top and bottom chamber for easy cleaning, and comes with a tiny scrapper stick. 

(I would have taken a picture but I didn't think about it until I used it so it's dirty and that seems unprofessional to me)

At first I have to admit I was a little impressed. Turning the pencil felt smooth and super easy. I turned it twice, pulled out the pencil and it looked almost NEW! I thought maybe it was a fluke so I tried it again.

Then I tried it on a lip pencil, realizing how important it is to have a good sharpened pencil when doing a darker lip outline. You don't want your pencil dull, making mistakes something easier to accomplish. And sure enough it looked as though I had never touched it. 

The worst pencils for my to sharpen are my NYX Jumbo Pencils. Even with most double barrel sharpeners I can never really get these to sharpen well. After doing this pencil I was sold. 

All in all, if you are an avid makeup user and have an extra $10 in your pocket I say go for it. In fact I may just go out and get myself another one for just lip pencils. It's amazing and totally lives up to hype but if you have a sharpener that does all that for you and is cheaper let me know in the comments section.

Thanks for reading.

XOXO

Smashbox Wondervision Mega Palette review and swatches

The Wondervision Mega Palette by Smashbox is a new product that is (from what I can tell) exclusively sold at Ulta.

 The palette retails for $49.00

 It comes with 30 eyeshadows (8 of them matte) 3 blushes (1 with shimmer) and a matte bronzer. The colors seem fairly even when it comes to the amount of neutrals and brighter, bolder colors. Each one of the shades is very pigmented, bendable, and seem just amazing to me.

 You receive 4 cards that give you ideas on how to use the shadows and come with numbers on top so you know what shade should go where and which shades were designed to be used together.

It also comes with a half sized mirror and stays upright by itself.

The formula for the entire palette is the epitome of the word "rich" to me. They are super soft, buttery and amazingly textured. These shadows outshine even the best Urban Decay or MAC shadows I've tried, not to mention that it seems as though a lot of work and thought went into the making of this pallet. So let's start with the swatching. 

The first row is all neutrals with only one shade that isn't matte. All six shades are a dream to work with and Golden has a beautiful pearl finish. The top row alone makes a very wearable day or night look for girls who aren't always looking for big and bold.

The second row starts off with a shimmer shade. The rest of the row is a solid pearl finish row (as are most of the eyeshadows) This row reminds me of Fall completely. Also Umber is a dupe for MAC's Club, but takes less to get a good pigmentation for me.

This row starts off with a matte shade. Mint, Turquoise, and Green are both pearl finishes but Blue and Dark Blue both have more of a shimmer/glitter to them. This section completely makes me think of the ocean though.

These purples are what I wish most pallets would give you. You get a pearl finish with a hint of lavender, a pink with shimmer/glitter, a matte lavender, a pearl violet, a shimmer/glitter purple and a matte black. You can give yourself an impressive purple based smokey eye with just this section (As you could with all of the other sections though) and you can get it in any finish you want.

Last but not least (for the eyeshadows) you get this line of smokey shadows that has 4 pearl finishes and 2 shimmer/glitter finishes that my best friend describes as space. Don't be fooled by the swatch of Pewter it's a lot more taupe than it seems. I am glad that you have your matte browns and black while you also have a shimmer/glitter brown and black.

All three blushes are wearable, even glow which seems to have scary-ish amounts of sparkle in it before you apply it. These shades like the shadows are really pigmented so a little will go a long way. The bronzer was also flawless for my skin but I could see it being too light for medium to dark skin tones. 

No matter how I look at this pallet, I found no duds in it and I am completely happy that I made this purchase. No regrets at all. However, if you aren't in the market for bright colors or shimmers you might want to stay away from this one. You don't get enough matte shadows to warrant a pallet for this price or enough neutrals either. 

Hope you enjoyed.

Beauty Noobz Guide to Beaty (Part Four- Eye Shadow Bases)

If you're new to the make up world the idea of an eye shadow base may be kind of confusing. What's it for? What about the different colored bases? What kind should you buy? etc.

Here are the answers to any of the questions you may have, also putting a high end shadow base against a dollar base. 

What is an eye shadow base for?

Eye shadow bases (a.k.a. eye primers) are used to prepare a base for your eye shadow. They help them last longer, look more vivid, help guard against creasing and some new bases even claim to have anti-aging benefits.

What about the different color bases?

A new big trend with primers/bases is to add different dimension or color to them and that means that your eye shadows may show up a bit differently.

Black Bases- You can achieve a black base by using any black pencil liner or gel liner, but when doing this be very careful to smudge out the liner before applying the eye shadow if not the black may over power your eye shadow. A good tip I learned in school was to first apply a light wash of a light brown shadow to the crease so that you don't smudge your liner too far.

White bases- White bases are supposed to present you with a perfectly blank canvas, making your shadow present itself as vivid as possible. It doesn't have to compete with your natural eye color or any color. Keep in mind that when speaking art terms White is the Lack of Color which is why your colors will be more vibrant.

Skin Toned bases- Skin toned bases are meant to be more natural, something to adjust the color of your eyelids. Some eye lids are more naturally red than others so by adjusting the color on your lids you make it easier for your eye shadow to be as pure a color as possible.

What kind of base should you buy?

Most people use money and reputation of a brand to decide what base they should buy. Too Faced Shadow Insurance and Urban Decays Primer Potion are two very popular eye primers that are also kind of pricey. However, there are so many types and tricks for things you might already have in your collection that you don't necessarily need to go out and buy an expensive one. So lets expand on this question with some swatches shall we?

(left to right: Color Tattoo -Barely Beige, Covergirl + Olay concealer balm, NYX Eyeshadow Base, ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, Too Faced Perfect Eyes liner, Cherimoya liner, and Urban Decay Primer Potion)

As you can see the so called "primers" come in all different colors, textures, and some aren't even primers. Concealer is a good option for a primer and something that most of us already have in our collection. The creamier the concealer the more likely it is to crease.

Let's see how these bad boys preform now.

As you can see the different colored bases make for a different finish to the same eye shadow. A shimmer base like the Color Tattoo does add an extra amount of sparkle that shows up through the shadow. That means if you are going for a Matte look I wouldn't recommend a cream eyeshadow with shimmer as your base. So, does expensive technically mean better? No. I use ELF primer (which is $1) all the time and have no problems. But as you can tell ANY base is better than NO base. 

So go out there, try a primer/base of some sort, just keep in mind that moderation should be used on whichever you pick, also for a smokey eye It's always pick a black base (smoked out and in moderation). 

Hope that helped.

Urban Decay Vice 2 and Anarchy Pallet Swatches and Reviews

The much anticipated holiday pallets are making their way into stores rather quickly. The company that caught my eye the most though? Urban Decay with their Vice 2 pallet and their Face Cases. I personally have come to the conclusion that my collection of make up has enough browns in every finish so I get super excited when something is released  with some really fun colors. Plus ladies, Halloween is approaching quickly and some of these colors in Vice 2 are just what the doctor ordered. So lets get on with it. 

Vice 2

Retails $59.00 at Sephora and UrbanDecay.com

The pallet comes with 20 shadows, all new and exclusive to this Limited Edition pallet. You also receive a double sided brush with this pallet.

First Row

Smokeout is a dark black/grey "satin" that honestly has a hint of duo chrome to me actually with a hint of taupe. Lovesick is a black glitter (if you've ever tried their stardust shadows, it's basically that) that has silver micro-glitter. Shellshock is a beautiful true silver metallic with no glitter. Coax is a pink metallic with hints of gold shimmer. X-Rated is a baby pink shimmer.

Second Row

Prank (even though it looks purple) is a navy blue with green shimmer. Madness is a metallic blue. Strike is a metallic gold. Stash is an olive color with gold shimmer making it look duo chrome as well. Poison is charcoal color with silver glitter. 

Third Row

Radar is a Metallic brown with glitter. Damaged is an emerald green shimmer. Voodoo is a jewel toned purple with shimmer. Betrayal is a light purple with a blue shimmer to it (again very duo-chrome). Derailed is a metallic taupe shimmer.

Fourth Row

Dope is a champagne satin. Toxic is a rose gold shimmer with glitter. Habit is a nude matte shade. Ambush is a metallic brown. And Rewind is a medium brown matte shade.

All of these shadows are incredibly pigmented. Be very aware of the shades with glitter because those have some fall out. I really did enjoy the entire set up of this pallet. It came with a lot of fun shades to give you a bright look, enough dark shades to give you a smokey eye (not exactly a matte black smokey eye but you know) and enough neutrals to make a soft look with it. Not to mention the mirror is huge and stays up on it's own. The brush is nice, I personally wish the fluffy side was a bit more fluffy to allow better blending (like the naked 2 brush) but I'm happy with it over all. If you want to try using shimmers, colors, metallics, or glitters I say go for it. You won't find a dud in this puppy. 

Anarchy Face Case

Retails for $44.00 and I've only seen it sold at Sephora.com

This pallet comes with five shadows, two blushes, one highlight, a 24/7 travel size liner and a travel sized Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Scandal. Scandal isn't available in the normal line of Urban Decay products and is exclusive to this pallet. The five eyeshadows are also exclusive to this pallet. I think the darker blush used to be part of the line of blushes but has been discontinued (don't quote me on this) but the other blush, and the highlight are also exclusive to this pallet.

It also comes with two full sized mirrors.

The Shadows

Redemption is a charcoal satin with a hint of shimmer. Fray is a matte nude shade. Vaporize is a metallic taupe/grey shade. Provocateur is a metallic muave with chunky glitter. Revolt is a silver metallic with glitter.

Face

Fetish is a mauve/pink with a hint of shimmer. Quickie is a bright barbie doll pink that's matte. Highlight which is the highlight shade is a golden metallic shade.

Pencils

Scandal is a berry colored, deeper pink shade and Perversion is a really dark matte black pencil. 

Does anyone remember getting the Naked pallet when it first came out and reaching into Sidecar and trying to apply it only to realize that was a horrible idea because of all of that chunky glitter fall out? That is exactly what happened when I reached into Provocateur which was super disappointing. Other than that as I said before the shimmers have a bit of fall out, nothing drastic. The colors aren't exactly something to bounce with joy over and they actually weren't the reason I bought the pallet. Work yourself a nice classic smokey eye or a soft romantic eye with this pallet. 

The blushes are really nice but be aware that Quickie is super pigmented so a little bit goes a long ways guys. You can go overboard really quickly with the blushes not to mention that highlight. It's nice that it's a golden color but a little goes a super long way. You don't want to light up like a light bulb.

Now for the reason I bought this pallet. I was super intrigued by this lip shade and as we go into fall/winter it's a perfect bight shade with a hint of darkness because of the berry shade. If you've never tried these lip pencils you do have to sharpen them, and they aren't very moisturizing either. They are pigmented (their lipsticks have better pigmentation) and the staying power is fair. Now Perversion is a really popular black pencil. It's super creamy, and really black. This pencil completely lives up to it's hype of being better than Zero (as someone who has owned zero before) in every way, shape, and form. I'm so happy they finally put it into a pallet.

If you are curious about the pencils like I am, do yourself the favor and just buy yourself the pencils, unless you are super curious about any of these shades it isn't worth the money. Then again I'm not super big on blushes to begin with so maybe that's why this pallet felt a little lacking to me. I'm still going to use the hell out of this pallet though.

Thanks for reading!

ELF Disney Villains Lookbooks (Review, Picture heavy)

Last year ELF teamed up with Disney to create look books that were sold exclusively at Walgreens based on four of our favorite lady villains, The Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil (anyone notice the interesting word play in her name?), Ursula, and Maleficent. Last years look book was very differently structured and you were given different products. You received an eyeshadow pallet (8 shadows), two mini lip pencils, a liquid eyeliner, an eyeshadow primer, and a pair of fake lashes. 

However, this year you get an eyeshadow pallet, a liquid and a pencil liner, an eyeshadow primer, a mascara, a lip gloss and an eyeshadow brush. The same four ladies are the basis of these pallets which retail for about $10 each.

(Side note: Walgreens is also carrying make up bags, nail art kits, hair ties, fake eyelash kits, and a box set of 12 mini polishes, each for about $10 also)

This year I was able to obtain all four look books and a nail polish box set (that I'll review soon) so lets get the ball rolling.

The first kit I got was the Evil Queen pallet.

I really enjoyed these pallets aesthetically. I feel as though a lot of thought and detail went into these pallets. I enjoyed their watercolor motif much more than I enjoyed the design last year. As you can semi see it does have a step by step guide on how to create a day time look and a night time look. 

Also for the record, since I won't have swatches of the eyeshadow brush I personally love it. I bought mine years ago, and it is still in perfect condition, doesn't shed, and I have been able to pack on color, blend, and apply soft washes of color with that one single brush. It's amazing, and I'm kind of excited that I have four now haha. 

(left to right: Dark Magic, Vanity, Witch, Majesty, Jealousy, Huntsman)

Dark Magic and Vanity were the duds in this pallet for me. Dark Magic, in the packaging looks like a beautiful dark purple with bright purple sparkles and once swatched it takes a few coats to get it that intensity. Vanity, like most of the other mattes were done kind of poorly, and don't show up as well as I'd like. However, Witch (which is a lovely matte dark gray), Majesty (a more green brown shimmer), Jealousy (a creamy lighter brown shimmer) and Huntsman (a cream colored shimmer) are pigmented and easy to blend. Just be a aware that most of these are shimmers and do have a tiny bit of fallout. 

Then there was Cruella De Vil

Cruella also has the amazing watercolor detail and a day and night guide on the inside. (brush not pictured because it is on my vanity =) 

(left to right: Stolen, Eccentric, Cruelty, Fur, Puppy Love, Maniac)

Stolen was the dud for me in this pallet it's a matte chocolate brown that really doesn't have good pigment at all. Eccentric ( an orange brown shimmer), Cruelty (a golden brown shimmer), Fur (a chocolate brown -almost gray- shimmer), and Maniac (another light cream shimmer) are all super buttery, pigmented and blendable. This pallet is perfect for a (shimmery) more neutral look. It doesn't exactly scream Cruella to me but it is the most wearable pallet. I just wish there was an actual dark shade to take your look into a more smoky night time feeling.

Onto Ursula.

 Yet again you get the amazing packaging and the say and night look guide.

(left to right: Bewitched, Triton, Kiss The Girl, Shell, Sea Witch, Coral)

This pallet was honestly the most disappointing for me. Maybe it was just that I wanted more from it because the colors look gorgeous all packaged together for this kit, and it SCREAMED Little Mermaid to me but gosh was I sorely disappointed. Bewitched, Triton, and Sea Witch are all mattes, and this is over primer and really trying hard to bring out the colors. Sea Witch even with a heavy hand doesn't produce good color pay off. Kiss the Girl (a nice brown shimmer), Shell (a pretty sea foam green shimmer) and Coral (a beautiful champagne shimmer) have good pigmentation but make me feel like this pallet almost isn't worth it unless you are a big fan of the Little Mermaid or you don't mind a challenge.

Lastly there is Maleficent.

You yet again get watercolor magic and a day and night make up guide.

(left to right: Raven Black, Thorns, Deep Sleep, Spell, Fauna, Flora)

This was honestly my favorite pallet. Yes there was a dud, Raven Black is matte and not so pigmented but it's like the grey in the Evil Queen pallet, it's good enough. The rest of the pallet is awesome though! Thorns (a dark brown/grayish shimmer), Deep Sleep (a silver shimmer), Spell (a forest green shimmer), Fauna (a light gray shimmer), Flora (another cream shimmer) are all pigmented and the mixture of the grays with that out of left field green was amazing. You end up with everything you need for a classic smokey eye in this little eye kit.

Now for the lippies.

(left to right: Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella, Evil Queen)

Maleficent is your classic red. Ursula a very bubblegum, barbie pink. Cruella is a orange-ish color. Evil Queen is a wine colored gloss. All of these glosses aren't exactly super pigmented. They aren't by any standard sheer though. The red gloss would look better and compliment a nice red lipstick or pencil. The pink gloss looks good alone, but would top a nice pink lipstick/pencil. The orange was the stand out for me here, it neutralized my natural lip color just enough that it gave me the perfect nude lip, so I love it alone. The wine color looks a little more fuchsia on my lips but would top wine colors beautifully or deepen fuchsias just a bit. The glosses have a sweet scent that is mixed with a hint of chemical scent. These aren't sticky on the lips while they retain color, right after I wiped off the swatches the skin became sticky so make of that what you will. 

The liners.

They are all black the liquid as you can see doesn't dry matte and the pencil is a bit dry, nothing major.

The mascara (not pictured) is a normal bristles smaller wand. The formula seemed really dry to me, and didn't cause clumping and added a little bit of length but added no volume. I thought it was a nice on my lower lashes, defining them without making them look spidery but I can do better on my top lashes. There was no smudging through out the day either.